Numéro : 2812 - Year : 2025
Wind propulsion technology installation of rotor sails on the MR Tanker Alcyone
Robert BRIDGES, Antoine DE BERMOND, Sebastien ROCHE - TotalEnergies – Shipping Performance & Innovation – Paris (France) - Hector FIRINO MARTELL, Christophe COURNELOUP - Socatra – Fleet Management – Bordeaux (France)
Innovative and sustainable solutions are required to support the energy transition of maritime transportation. In March 2024 two 35m high flettner rotor sails were installed onboard the medium range (MR) tanker, Alcyone, a 183 m tanker sailing under French flag. The integration of the rotor sails on Alcyone demonstrates commitment to reducing emissions and improving the energy efficiency, whilst providing an immediate reduction of the carbon footprint of shipping activities. Over the last year of operational transits between South Korea and French Polynesia, the use of the sails has achieved a reduction in the ships emissions and enabled significant fuel savings. These savings have been realised by coupling the sails with a dedicated routeing optimisation service based on weather conditions that maximises the performance of wind assistance, as well as the use of a high frequency in-service performance monitoring system. This article presents and summarises the key aspects of project, from the early feasibility studies, through to the detail design and installation, and subsequently the initial commissioning and operational performance assessment. The retrofit installation to the Alcyone can be used as an example to pave the way for the broader adoption of wind assisted propulsion technologies for future project innovative solutions for more sustainable shipping and actively support the deployment.
This paper is written in English
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