The following is the text of a news release from Viking Line:
(HELSINKI) — Norsepower Oy Ltd., a leading provider of low-maintenance, software-operated and data-verified auxiliary wind propulsion systems, has signed an agreement with Finnish shipping company Viking Line to install a rotor sail on board M/S Viking Grace, an LNG-fueled cruise ship.
The 57,565-gt M/S Viking Grace currently operates in the archipelago between Turku, Finland and Stockholm, Sweden, and is already one of the most environmentally-friendly cruise ships in the global maritime industry. With the addition of Norsepower’s technology, the vessel will further reduce its emissions, fuel burn and fuel costs, reducing carbon emissions by circa 900 tonnes annually, equivalent to cutting 300 tonnes of LNG fuel per year.
Preparations for the retrofit are underway, with the installation scheduled to take place during the second quarter of 2018. Viking Grace is set to be retrofitted with one medium-sized Norsepower rotor sail unit that is 78 feet in height and 13 feet in diameter, making it the first global LNG/wind electric propulsion hybrid ship.
The Norsepower rotor sail, which can be installed on new vessels or retrofitted on existing ships without off-hire costs, is a modernized version of the Flettner rotor, a spinning cylinder that uses the Magnus effect to harness wind power to propel a ship. The solution is fully automated and senses whenever the wind is strong enough to deliver fuel savings, at which point the rotors start automatically — optimizing crew time and resource.
To date, independent data analysis indicates that up to 20 percent fuel savings per year can be achieved on routes with favorable wind flows, sufficient-sized rotor sails, and appropriate service speed.
The technology has proven commercial applicability, with two small units of Norsepower’s rotor sails installed on board Bore’s M/S Estraden, a 9,700-dwt ro-ro carrier. Measured and independently verified by NAPA, the leading maritime data analysis, software and services provider, the rotor sails delivered fuel consumption reductions of 6.1 percent for Estraden.
