EPS tanker gets wind-assisted boost with bound4blue’s suction sails

Singapore-based shipping company Eastern Pacific Shipping (EPS) has installed three suction sails on one of its 50,000-dwt oil and chemical tankers.

PHOTO: The Pacific Sentinel installed with bound4blue's suction sails. bound4blue

EPS partnered with Spanish wind-assisted propulsion technology developer bound4blue for this project.

As part of the collaboration, the shipping company has installed three 22-metre suction sails on its tanker, Pacific Sentinel, bound4blue said. The installation took place at Besiktas Shipyard in Turkey during a planned drydocking.

The technology is based on active boundary layer control using suction, which enhances propulsion by generating high lift with low drag, without needing the sail to spin like a rotor.

The three suction-based sails are designed to use an autonomous control system to reduce the vessel's engine load and marine fuel consumption. When switched on, the system will suck in air to re-adhere the airflow towards the sail to help in propulsion.

The sails will “help the vessel reduce overall energy consumption with forecasted energy consumption savings of around 10% depending on vessel routing,” bound4blue claimed.

This project marks bound4blue’s first tanker installation, it said.

By Aparupa Mazumder

Please get in touch with comments or additional info to news@engine.online