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Shipping companies are putting sails back on cargo ships
One of the world's largest logistics companies plans to fit one of its ships with a strange type of sail, the latest in a small but growing number of cleaner sailing shipping vessels.
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WORLD: One of the world's largest logistics companies plans to fit one of its ships with a strange type of sail, the latest in a small but growing number of cleaner sailing shipping vessels.
One of the world's largest shipping lines will soon be the first to equip a container vessel with a sail. This week, global logistics firm Maersk said it would fit the device on a cargo ship in 2027. It comes during a sea change for shipping and planet-warming pollution, as NPR's Henry Larson reports.
HENRY LARSON, BYLINE: Unlike the tall ships of old, shipping liners have no rigging for the wind to sing through.
LARSON: Instead, the sail soon to be mounted on a Maersk vessel is more like a giant steel column. It's called a rotor sail.
LARSON: The column uses an electric motor to spin really fast, like in this video from its manufacturer, Anemoi. And as the wind swirls around the rotating column, the pressure gives the vessel an extra boost.
CLARE URMSTON: This thrust can be used to either increase the vessel's speed or you can reduce the consumption of the main engine.
LARSON: That's Clare Urmston, CEO of Anemoi. The company markets their rotor sales as a way to save on fuel and reduce greenhouse gas emissions that are the primary driver of climate change. She says the sales have netted about a 10% reduction in fuel usage on average. But the global shipping industry contributes about 3% of the world's emissions, which comes out to hundreds of millions of tons a year.
This Bay News report is based on originating coverage from NPR.