KM brings Norsepower Rotor Sails on board

Under the memorandum of understanding signed by the two companies, shipyards will be able to choose between fully integrated systems, or solutions incorporating stand-alone products.

“There is an increasing demand for the use of modern wind propulsion in shipping and we are excited to work with Norsepower to deliver this,” said Oskar Levander, senior vice president business concepts, Kongsberg Maritime.

To date, the variable flow of energy produced by the Rotor Sail system has been seen as a barrier to take up in larger vessels, but KM believes its controllable pitch propeller solutions can easily manage this drawback.

“As the industry combines clean technology solutions to accelerate progress towards reaching net zero, it is important that the optimal design points are considered on installation for all systems,” said Tuomas Riski, chief executive of Norsepower. “Current savings of between five and 25 per cent could be further improved with KM’s advanced automation systems, efficient propulsion and other novel design solutions.”

The Norsepower Rotor Sail solution is fully automated and detects whenever the wind is strong enough to deliver fuel and emission savings, at which point the Rotor Sails start automatically. Norsepower has completed six installations to date, including the latest installation of five tilting Rotor Sails on a bulker.