In recent years a group of cargo ship operators have been experimenting with an old-fashioned power source: the sail. All in the name of reducing fuel consumption and emissions. According to proponents of this technology, the additional propulsion of a wind-driven sail provides reductions in the work required from a ship’s fuel-powered engine, thus reducing fuel use as well as pollution.
Now one shipowner is doubling down on that bet by investing in a company making this new technology. The Japanese shipowner Nissen Kaiun has become a shareholder in Econowind, a Dutch manufacturer offering a wind-assisted shipping propulsion device called VentoFoil.
First tested in 2018, VentoFoil looks more like a rigid airplane wing mounted vertically on a ship’s deck than the billowing fabric sails of the past. Econowind says it has sold more than 130 units of VentoFoil, which uses suction-based airflow control for scalable and cost-effective energy savings.
“The partnership with Nissen Kaiun will support the expansion of our VentoFoil product line, including larger units for deep-sea shipping, and could also open the door to future production in Asia,” Econowind CEO Dan Korneev said in a statement. “Nissen Kaiun is an ideal partner with a large network in Japan and the wider Asian markets. With them becoming shareholders, we can expand our business and accelerate the development of larger units for deep-sea markets.”
