CLdN installs Norsepower’s rotor sails on ro-ro vessel
Luxembourg-based shipping company CLdN has installed rotor sails on one of its roll-on/roll-off (ro-ro) vessels.
PHOTO: CLdN’s rotor-fitted ro-ro vessel MV Delphine. CLdN
The ro-ro vessel, MV Delphine, is the first vessel in CLdN’s fleet to be fitted with rotor sails and will return to service from Zeebrugge, Belgium, on 27 February. The company has partnered with the Maritime Technology Division at Ghent University to evaluate the performance of rotor sails.
The two 35-meter-tall rotor sails were installed by Finnish wind propulsion systems maker Norsepower.
A rotor sail is a modernised form of Flettner rotor based on the Magnus effect, which creates air pressure to cause spinning.
Under favourable wind conditions, the rotor sails will enable the vessel's main engine to throttle back and consume less fuel while providing enough power to maintain speed.
“The rotor sails will maximise our fuel and emissions savings on the MV Delphine and we will use this project to help determine how the technology could be deployed on the current CLdN fleet and our new-build vessels," said CLdN RoRo’s (a unit of CLdN) chief executive Gary Walker.
MV Delphine operates on routes between the UK, Ireland and mainland Europe.
The shipping industry has been exploring wind-assisted propulsion systems to reduce fuel consumption and emissions.
Last month, French shipowner and operator Socatra signed an agreement with Norsepower to install two rotor sails on one of its medium-range tankers.
By Tuhin Roy
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