In the initial stage, the partnership will explore the environmental benefits, commercial and operational feasibilities of various technologies, including the ‘Wind Challenger’, a cargo ship design with a telescopic hard sail that converts wind energy to propulsive force.
Plans to develop the Wind Challenger started in 2009 as an industry-academia joint research project led by the University of Tokyo. MOL took charge of the plan in 2018 and has been working on the technology since. The first Wind Challenger is scheduled to be released in 2022.
The long-term goal is to develop a widely accepted shipping solution to achieve the International Maritime Organization reduction target in combination with other measures to reduce GHG by equipping vessels with multiple sails.
Image: MOL/YouTube
