Mitsui OSK Lines (MOL) and Japan Electric Power Development (J-Power) have agreed to install the Wind Challenger hard sail wind power propulsion system, which converts wind energy to propulsive force, on the coal carrier ‘Kurotakisan Maru III’ which transports coal to J-Power’s power stations.
The installation is scheduled for the second half of 2025. This marks the first installation of the Wind Challenger on a vessel currently in service by retrofitting, and is MOL’s second Wind Challenger-equipped coal carrier, following the Shofu Maru operated for Tohoku Electric Power.
The introduction of the Wind Challenger is expected to reduce GHG emissions by about 5% on a Japan-Australia voyage and about 8% on a Japan-North America West Coast voyage, compared to a conventional vessel of the same type, thus contributing to reduced GHG emissions during fuel transportation.
MOL plans to launch 25 vessels equipped with the Wind Challenger by 2030, increasing to 80 by 2035.
The 2021-built Kurotakisan Maru III is 234.96m long, of 89,999 dwt capacity. The Wind Challenger is a device developed by MOL and Oshima Shipbuilding, which converts wind energy to propulsive force using telescoping hard sails.
Image: Rendering of the ‘Kurotakisan Maru III’ equipped with the Wind Challenger (source: MOL)
