Second Scandlines Ferry Gets Norsepower Rotor Sail

Danish-based ferry operator Scandlines has installed a Norsepower Rotor Sail on a second ferry as the company increasingly turns to wind-assisted propulsion to reduce fuel consumption and greenhouse gases.

Since 2013, Scandlines has invested more than EUR 300 million to build and convert conventional ferries into hybrid ferries. In 2020, the ferry operator installed its first Norsepower Rotor Sail on the hybrid ferry Copenhagen, which operates on the Rostock-Gedser route between Germany and Denmark, which has been proven to achieve CO2 emissions reductions of 4 percent on average—and as much as 20 percent on days with optimal wind conditions.

With the aim of becoming emission-free by 2040, Scandlines has now opted to install a Norsepower Rotor Sail on a second vessel, the hybrid ferry M/V Berlin.

The Rotor Sail – a 30-meter-high rotating cylinder – was installed on the Berlin in the port of Rostock, requiring the vessel to be out service for just “a few hours.”

Norsepower Rotor Sails are a modern version of the Flettner rotor, which uses the Magnus effect to provide auxiliary propulsion to engine power. When wind meets the spinning Rotor Sail, the airflow accelerates on one side of the Rotor Sail and decelerates on the opposite side. The change in the speed of airflow results in a pressure difference, which creates a lift force that is perpendicular to the wind flow direction.

Since its establishment in 2012, Norsepower has installed its Rotor Sail technology on six vessels, including one tanker, two passengers vessels, a VLOC bulk carrier, and two roll-on/roll-off vessels.

According to Scandlines, the technology is optimal for winds blowing 20 meters per second a little abaft abeam and perpendicular to the sail. The route between Gedser to the north and Rostock to the south is almost perpendicular to the prevailing wind from the west (or a little less frequently east), making the route optimal for using Rotor Sails.

Norsepower Rotor Sail measure the prevailing conditions and kick on automatically when reduced emissions are possible.

“After positive experiences with the Rotor Sail on the hybrid ferry Copenhagen, Scandlines had prepared the sister ferry Berlin for a Rotor Sail as well. We are happy to see, that the installation was successfully completed and that the ferry went into operation again this morning as planned,” said Michael Guldmann Petersen, COO at Scandlines.

“Scandlines is taking the international GHG emissions reductions targets extremely seriously and is demonstrating a leading approach to investing in innovation to supersede these. Expanding its use of our Rotor Sail technology on its second vessel highlights the viability of wind power, and the significance of the emissions savings which can be achieved,” added Tuomas Riski, CEO at Norsepower.