Two 17m suction sails installed on cargo ship

Dutch cargo ship EEMS Traveller is to be retrofitted with two 17m suction sails by the Spanish wind-assisted propulsion systems company bound4blue.

The sails are slightly smaller than a recent installation made by bound4blue, which comprised an 18m sail – thought to be the largest suction sail ever built and installed on a vessel – that was placed on La Naumon, the theatre ship that is touring Spanish ports in a campaign aimed at creating awareness of climate change.

Suction sails could reduce fuel costs and annual CO₂ emissions by up to 30%, bound4blue says.

“The installation will also reduce the vessel’s Energy Efficiency Existing Ship Index and improve the Carbon Intensity IOndicator, further extending its compliance with the IMOP measures aimed at reducing the carbhon instensity of international shipping.” says bound4blue.

“Our eSAIL is a commercially available, proven and reliable technology that turns wind into profit while reducing the carbon footprint of ships. Collaborating with Amasus Shipping team in this multiple sail installation is an opportunity to show again that general cargo ships, which account for roughly twenty seven percent of the world merchant fleet, can benefit from our wind propulsion system,” said bound4blue CEO José Miguel Bermúdez.

Arend-Jan Rozema, managing director of Amasus Shipping, said the company’s mission was to reduce its fleet’s energy footprint.