Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd. (MOL) proudly announces that on July 10, the Green Winds, a 63,896 DWT Ultramax bulk carrier equipped with the Wind Challenger hard sail wind power propulsion system, was completed at Oshima Shipbuilding Co., Ltd., MOL Group company MOL Drybulk Ltd. will operate this new vessel.
This is the second of a total of nine MOL Group vessels that have been or will be equipped with the Wind Challenger, and the world’s first crane vessel equipped with the Wind Challenger.
The Wind Challenger is a device developed by MOL and Oshima Shipbuilding that converts wind energy to propulsive force using telescoping hard sails. With the Wind Challenger, the vessel is expected to reduce fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions by about 7%-16%, depending on the ship route and other conditions*.
MOL has established the “MOL Group Environmental Vision 2.2” and has set the target of achieving net zero GHG emissions by 2050. Among the key strategies to achieve this target are the “further adoption of energy-saving technologies,” and the group plans to launch 25 vessels equipped with the Wind Challenger by 2030 and 80 vessels by 2035.
MOL Group is proactively expanding its environmentally friendly fleet, which combines wind propulsion technology, such as the Wind Challenger, across a wide range of ship types, and through safe management and efficient operation, it will not only reduce GHG emissions from its own group companies but also contribute to the decarbonization of society as a whole.
Outline of the vessel:
- LOA/Breadth: 199.95m/32.26m
- Deadweight tonnage (at summer full load draft): 63,896 tons
- Registry: Panama
- Wind Challenger specifications:
- Height: Up to about 39.5 m (3-tier)
- Width: About 11.4 m
- Sail material: Fiber Reinforced Plastic
About MOL Group
MOL Group, headquartered in Japan, is a leading shipping company operating on a global scale with about 800 vessels in service. The company develops various social infrastructure businesses centered on ocean shipping, as well as technologies and services to meet ever-changing social needs, including environmental protection. The MOL fleet includes dry cargo ships, liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers, car carriers, and tankers.
With one of the largest merchant fleets and 140 years of history, experience, and technology, MOL will make a leap forward to become a global social infrastructure company, supporting people’s daily lives from the blue ocean, opening the way to a prosperous future, and delivering new value to all stakeholders.
Source MOL Mitsui O.S.K.Lines