GoKawiil
Tech News
Maersk announced plans to fit a 35-meter rotor sail to one of its 8,700-TEU containerships, with trials on Atlantic routes set to begin in 2027, marking the first such installation on a containership. The move follows a broader trend across shipping, with the International Windship Association reporting more than 100 large vessels now carrying modern wind-assist systems totaling over 5 million deadweight tons.
Maersk has installed a giant spinning cylinder, known as a rotor sail, on one of its cargo vessels carrying 8,700 shipping containers. The 115-foot-tall device uses wind power through the Magnus effect to help propel the ship, reducing the amount of fuel the engines need to burn.
Startup Newlight tested a retrofit hydrogen-injection system on a 650-foot Lomar Shipping bulk carrier during an 8,500-nautical-mile voyage from Singapore to Ghana. The system, which precisely times hydrogen injections alongside diesel combustion, reduced fuel consumption by 24% and cut carbon dioxide emissions by 28% during the month-long trip. Newlight says the retrofit can be installed in under two weeks without dry-docking a vessel.
An analysis of the Netherlands' waterway maintenance history shows that dredging was long done by hand, animal, wind and tidal power before the switch to oil-burning ships that now consume up to 3,000 litres of fuel per hour. Today the country removes 30 to 35 million cubic metres of silt annually to keep its harbours, canals and rivers navigable, a task growing more demanding as ships get bigger and cargo shifts from road to water.