WIND CHALLENGER Next-Generation Wind Powered Vessel

The International Maritime Organization (IMO) adopted greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction strategies in April 2018, setting goals such as cutting GHG emissions by 50% by 2050 compared to 2008 levels, amidst a growing movement toward preventing global warming that was gaining further attention after the Paris Agreement. In recent years, the movement towards carbon neutrality has been gathering momentum around the world.

Wind Challenger utilizes wind power, which is a renewable energy, as a propulsion force for a vessel by the sail. While current large commercial vessels rely almost solely on fossil fuels for their propulsion, Wind Challenger adds wind power directly to its propulsion force to reduce the consumption of fossil fuels without changing the vessel speed. By installing and effectively using a sail, i.e. a traditional sailing vessel technique, and evolving it as much as possible by leveraging the latest technologies, we have been successful in reducing the fuel consumption of a large cargo vessel and drastically reducing its GHG emissions.

It is important that the sail shall be light enough so it would not affect the amount of cargo that the vessel can carry. We employed glass fiber reinforced plastic (GFRP) as the sail material.

This enabled us to make the dimensions of the sail large to maximize the propulsion force it generates. It also minimized its impact on the vessel balance, which significantly improves the operational safety.

A sail vessel needs to have its sail direction and tension adjusted according to the wind conditions (speed and direction), which requires deep understanding and experiences. Wind Challenger automated the sail control so that any crew member can maximize the use of the wind easily. The sail detects the speed and direction of the wind by sensors. The sail is extended if the wind is not strong, and shrunk if the wind is strong. The sail is also automatically rotated.

A sail vessel receives the wind power on its sail to generate propulsion force. The sail vessel does not generate any GHG because its source of propulsion force, wind, is a natural energy. Therefore, the sail vessel has a small environmental load. However, the wind speed and direction have a major impact on the vessel's speed and direction, which makes its scheduling uncertain and maneuvering difficult. Sail vessels are not used for commercial vessels for this reason. While sail vessels were used as a maritime transportation method since ancient times, they gradually fell out of favor with the advent of steam and engine vessels due to the overwhelming differences in the propulsion force and practicality.