Amasus Shipping’s general cargo vessel EEMS Traveller has been fitted with 17 m-tall eSAILs at the port of Bilbao in Spain.
The bound4blue sails are the company’s largest suction sails to be built and installed on a ship to date. The installation, approved by Bureau Veritas, was completed as part of the Sails for Cargo project, supported by the Port Authority of Bilbao, Bilbao PortLab, Toro y Betolaza and Haizea Wind Group.
The aim is to test the new generation of the automated wind-assisted propulsion system designed to reduce fuel costs and pollutant emission levels. Using this technology could potentially bring about a reduction in fuel consumption of up to 40 percent, depending on factors such as the type of vessel itself, its operational profile and the winds in the areas where it generally operates.
The sails were installed in two phases. A year ago, during a regular and scheduled dry-dock service of the vessel, the foundations for both the eSAILs were manufactured and installed in the Netherlands.
Subsequently, the sails manufactured by Haizea Wind at its plant in Aranda del Duero were vertically positioned and installed, and all internal elements duly integrated. The operation to lift the system into a vertical position was performed by the company Toro y Betolaza, using two cranes and other auxiliary equipment.
At the same time, bound4blue has been monitoring the consumption data of the vessel to obtain its baseline performance, which will be used by a third party to assess results in terms of fuel savings and emissions reduction over the next 12 months. This will enable scientifically validated results to be obtained and used to quantify the actual effects of the system on board the vessel, and to form the basis for future development.
