- Title: GERMANY: Revolutionary "Skysail" commercial merchant ship is launched in Hamburg
- Date: 16th December 2007
- Summary: VARIOUS OF SKYSAILS SAIL BEING HOISTED VARIOUS OF SKYSAIL
- Embargoed: 31st December 2007 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Germany
- Country: Germany
- Topics: Environment / Natural World,Transport
- Reuters ID: LVA4JIZHGO3ZH8QY4CU0910LBXDC
- Story Text: Putting a harness on ocean winds, the world's first commercial merchant ship pulled by a giant high-tech kite aiding its engines to slash fuel consumption and cut greenhouse gas has been launched.
The world's first commercial merchant ship pulled by a giant high-tech kite aiding its engines to slash fuel consumption and cut greenhouse gas emissions was launched in Hamburg on Saturday (December 15).
The pioneering 132-metre long MV "Beluga SkySails" was ceremoniously launched in the northern German port ahead of its maiden voyage across the Atlantic to Venezuela in early January.
Pulled by the 160-square metre (191 square-yard) high-tech to catch the stronger winds up to 300 metres above the surface, the 500,000-euro (725,600 U.S. dollars) "SkySails" system is projected to cut fuel costs by about 20 percent -- or about 1,600 U.S. dollars per day. It will also reduce CO2 output, which is blamed for climate change, by a similar amount.
"It is a small revolution in the world of shipping. With this 160 square metre kite we shall make the first trip from Venezuela to Bremen. We reckon on saving around 20 percent in fuel costs, that is about 1600 US dollars a day. We reckon that the system will have paid for itself within three or four days. These measures are made necessary by today's 500 dollar fuel prices," said Niels Stolberg, the chief executive of Beluga Shipping GmbH that helped develop the system over the last two years.
Stolberg plans to install the paraglider-shipped kite system on two more vessels twice as large as the MV Beluga SkySails by 2009. He says the shipping industry emits 800 million tonnes of C02 now and that will rise to over 1 billion tonnes in five years.
Stephan Wrage, managing director of SkySails GmbH & Co. KG, first got the idea to harness the wind years ago as a kite and sailing enthusiast. He developed it with prototypes from a 3.5 metre boat to a final test phase with a 55-metre vessel. Wrage admitted he was a bit nervous about the system's maiden voyage across the Atlantic, even though five years of testing on the smaller ships in the North Sea and Baltic had all met or exceeded expectations on fuel and emissions savings.
"We can not only make shipping more profitable in themselves and save money for our customers, but we are also helping the environment, we can contribute a huge amount to this important effort to protect the environment, and this makes us proud."
More than 450 people crowded into the harbour and onto the ship on a freezing afternoon to witness the launching and watch the giant white sail tethered to a 15-metre high mast near its bow unfold just above the deck in a gentle breeze. "I wish you a good trip on all your journeys, may you never run aground," said Eva Luise Koehler, wife of German President Horst Koehler, before flinging a bottle of champagne that crashed open on the bow of the ship.
The SkySails system can use powerful offshore winds between 100 and 300 metres above the sea with the help of its high-tech control pod, but it would be useless with head-on winds and would not benefit ships travelling above 16 knots. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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