On 19 February 2024 Chemship commissioned its first ship with wind assisted ship propulsion. This makes Chemical Challenger the first chemical tanker in the world to be equipped with sustainable wind technology. The ship will serve on shipping company Chemship’s Trans-Atlantic route between the East Coast of the United States and the Mediterranean.
Four 16m-high aluminium wind sails were installed on board the 134m vessel. The VentoFoils from Econowind create a direct wind surface of 180m2. Smart vacuum technology quintuples the force of the wind, creating a gross wind surface of 900m2.
This is equivalent to an imaginary sail of 30 by 30 metres. Chemship expects to achieve an average CO2 reduction of 10% with these turbo sails.
Chemship has a relatively young fleet with an average ship age of seven years. With wind assisted ship propulsion, CEO Niels Grotz sees shipping returning to its roots:
“As an avid sailor, I know the power of the wind. We will now harness this sustainable and free energy source on Chemical Challenger. Despite the fact that shipping already has the lowest carbon footprint of all transport modes, we can use wind to make our existing fleet even more sustainable. For this vessel, we anticipate an annual CO2 reduction of 850 tonnes. This is equivalent to the yearly CO2 emissions of over 500 passenger cars.”
The emergence of wind-assisted sailing coincides with the introduction of the European Emissions Trading System for the shipping industry.
Since 1 January 2024 shipowners have been paying for the emissions associated with transporting goods by sea to and from European ports.
