First installation of rigid sails on a Maersk Tankers vessel

The shipping company Maersk Tankers has completed the installation of the suction sails of the first of the five ships that will be equipped with the technology of the Catalan bound4blue, eSAIL. The Maersk Trieste has received four of these sails, 24 meters, at the Belgian shipyard EDR.

The project for Maersk Tankers follows a series of high-profile eSAIL contracts and installations with shipowners such as Louis Dreyfus Company, Eastern Pacific Shipping, Odfjell, Klaveness Combination Carriers and BW Epic Kosan.

Bound4blue, Maersk Tankers and system integrator Njord chose a two-step installation process for the Maersk Trieste, maximising efficiency and minimising vessel downtime. Following preparatory wind readiness work carried out in Shenzhen, China, the vessels arrived in Belgium for installation to the pre-installed foundations and were connected to the onboard power and data networks in a plug-and-play process. The mechanical simplicity of the design allows for easy integration into conventional shipyard workflows, helping to minimise downtime during refurbishment projects.

According to the CEO and co-founder of bound4blue, José Miguel Bermúdez, the size and efficiency of the eSAILs “allow tankers to benefit from wind propulsion in a safe and cost-effective way”, without altering operational profiles, avoiding inclined systems and maintaining a normal operating draft.

These latest installations demonstrate that the world’s leading shipowners appreciate these benefits, while sharing our vision for a more sustainable, cost-effective and compliant maritime future at a time of increased acceptance and adoption of wind energy for “an industry in transition”.