TOKYO-Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd. (MOL) announced MOL and Electric Power Development Co., Ltd. (J-Power) have installed the Wind Challenger-a hard-sail wind propulsion system-on the Kurotakisan Maru Ⅲ, a coal carrier supplying J Power operations.
The Wind Challenger is a device developed by MOL and Oshima Shipbuilding that converts wind energy to propulsive force using telescoping hard sails.
This achievement marks the world’s first retrofit installation of the Wind Challenger on a vessel currently in service. This is MOL’s third Wind Challenger-equipped vessel, following the coal carrier Shofu Maru and the 64,000-DWT Ultramax bulk carrier Green Winds. The Kurotakisan Maru Ⅲ berthed at the Tachibanawan Thermal Power Station (Anan City, Tokushima Prefecture) on April 13, and at the Ishikawa Coal-Fired Power Station (Uruma City, Okinawa Prefecture) on April 17.
The Kurotakisan Maru Ⅲ has drawn attention in the shipping industry for contributing to decarbonization while fulfilling a vital role in energy transport that supports local communities. It received a warm welcome from local stakeholders upon arrival at its unloading ports. The vessel is scheduled to operate on a long-term contract to transport thermal coal from overseas to multiple regions where J Power operates power plants and related facilities.
MOL has set the target of achieving net-zero GHG emissions by 2050 in the “MOL Group Environmental Vision: BLUE ACTION 2035 Phase 2.” One of the main actions to achieve this target is the “introduction of further energy-saving technologies,” and the group plans to launch 25 vessels equipped with the Wind Challenger by 2030, increasing to 80 by 2035.