DSME Developing Rotor Sail System for Large Tankers and LNG Carriers

Class society DNV has awarded an Approval in Principle to South Korean shipbuilder Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME) for a new rotor sail wind propulsion system designed for ultra-large crude oil tankers and LNG carriers.

The use of rotor sails for auxiliary propulsion has gained in popularity in recent years primarily led by Finnish-based Norsepower who has now installed a handful of systems on existing vessels. The company also an order to install a five rotor sails on board a newbuild bulk carrier, marking the first newbuild to be equipped with the technology.

Rotor sails are a type of Flettner rotor, a spinning cylinder that uses the Magnus effect to harness wind power to propel a ship and thereby reducing fuel consumption and carbon emissions.

DSME is now aiming to produce its own rotor sail system for the Korean shipbuilding industry.

“We are pleased to deliver the AiP, which is a milestone for the development of wind-assisted propulsion systems. DNV has comprehensive expertise in this area and we look forward to being a partner in enabling the further development of these technologies,” said Vidar Dolonen, Regional Manager at DNV in Korea and Japan.

DNV has already developed a standard for the certification of wind-assisted propulsion systems in response to inquiries. After a joint development project with DSME and a review of the system’s main plans and documentsf, DNV issued an AiP statement confirming that no significant obstacles exist to prevent the concept from being realized.

“In this time of growing pressure to decarbonize, wind-assisted propulsion systems are an increasingly attractive and reliable solutions to ship owners and operators,” said Hasso Hoffmeister, Senior Principal Engineer at DNV.

DSME estimates that its solution can achieve fuel savings of more than 5% based on the Energy Efficiency Design Index (EEDI), a technical measure used to calculate how much CO2 a certain ship emits.

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