UK company Smart Green Shipping has commenced on-land testing of FastRig, described as a robust aluminium wingsail that harnesses wind power to deliver thrust to the ship and can reduce shipping emissions by up to 30%.
FastRig has been developed collaboratively with input from ship owners and cargo owners, including financial support from MOL Dry Bulk, Scottish Enterprise and private investors. Smart Green Shipping collaborated with naval architects Humphreys Yacht Design, who drew on 50 years of experience to develop the design of FastRig. Argo Engineering was responsible for translating the high performance design into practical, affordable construction engineering. FastRig will undergo its on-land tests at Hunterston in Scotland before commencing on-ship trials later in 2024.
Diane Gilpin, founder and CEO of Smart Green Shipping, said: “Over the past year, wind power has finally become a key part of the emission reduction conversation in the shipping industry as the need to decarbonise to remain compliant is embraced. Wind is the obvious solution – it’s abundant, freely and exclusively available to any ship equipped to harness it. Unlike other greening solutions, wind-assist saves money. This next phase for FastRig, where it undergoes extensive on-land testing, is crucial to not only ensure its safety and reliability, but allows seafarers and shipowners the chance to actually get up close, give it a go and feed in to our ongoing design development. Seeing this 20m test and demonstration FastRig raised for the first time represents the culmination of a lot of hard work across the entire shipping ecosystem, and I couldn’t be prouder of the whole ‘Winds of Change’ community who have supported us on our journey. But this is just the beginning: we’re developing larger FastRigs, integrated weather routing software and frictionless wind-as-a-service offerings for our customers.”
FastRigs are lightweight, which makes them quick and easy to install and uninstall, they need no invasive retrofit procedures that steal space from cargo holds and reduce payloads. They retract in light winds to avoid creating additional wind resistance that would require more engine power, meaning they require less fuel. The wing sails retract in heavy weather to improve safety, to manoeuvre in and out of ports, navigate under bridges and when loading and discharging cargoes. Digitally-enabled FastRigs are said to ‘know’ when they have to get out of the way.
In 2018/19 a collaborative feasibility study that measured emissions saved by FastRigs on a Panamax on its usual route and normal operating speed predicted the wingsail would save up to 20% emissions per annum. This analysis was undertaken with the University of Southampton. The most recent FastRig design has been shown to reduce emissions by another 10%. The next few months will see Smart Green Shipping perform on-land testing of the rig to assess key safety, operational, technical and mechanical systems, in collaboration with project partners. From April 2024 onwards, Smart Green Shipping will be demonstrating FastRig for visitors to the test site in Scotland.
Image: FastRig land-based test site (source: Smart Green Shipping/Blue-Green Marketing credit: CDF Media)
