Beluga Group Signs Contract for Sky Sail Power
by Christine Lepisto, Berlin on 02.12.06
Beluga Group has become the first shipping firm worldwide to sign a contract to furnish a modern diesel freighter with sail power--in this case Sky Sail: a super-sized kite which pulls the ship across the seas. The idea has been around for a while, and poo-pahed just about as long (see the comments even after Sky Sails won the Aichi World Expo Eco-tech award, as reported in Treehugger Sky Sails Promise). But now it will become reality.
Sail power in the modern age has been simply unable to compete with diesel engines. The manpower required to manage traditional sails makes the system uncompetitive. But worse, the force of the wind in the sails causes a masted ship to "heel" or tip at an angle--a real danger for a ship packed to the sky with containers. The Sky Sails system overcomes the disadvantages by setting a football field sized kite on a cable over the ship. This takes advantage of the even more forceful winds present at higher elevations. A computerized systems steers the kite cable and plans the most efficient route taking account of weather forecasts and other factors. The kite contains cells which can be filled with helium to help launch the kite or stiffened with compressed air.
The Sky Sail cannot replace diesel entirely, since the sail is not capable of powering the ship in or out of port, cannot be used in narrow or crowded seaways and cannot go upwind (an angle of 50 degrees is maximal, with 70 degrees being the limit of efficiency in reality). But if the Sky Sail is used alone in optimal conditions and an assist whenever possible, at least half of the usual fuel demand can be spared. An estimated 289 million tons of fuel per year industry-wide is at stake. The Sky Sail will be installed on a 140 m multi-purpose heavy duty freighter, the MS Beluga SkySails due to take its maiden voyage in 2007.
::Sky Sails (in German)
::Beluga Group
This is a great deal and I can't wait to see one of those SkySails in action. But as I said here, the conventional shipping boat need to be reshaped. And the Beluga Group is launching a new boat for this.
This is a huge publicity stunt by Skysails. First of all the shipping company is owned by one of the primary investors, so it is not like they have broken into the shipping market. Second, I have heard that they plan to put a 160 meter kite on a 10,000 ton ship. It's a bit of a sham (a LOT of a sham!), as a kite this size is good for maybe 150 hp, and a ship this size has at least 5000 hp in its main engines.
It's a prototype people. Let's please hold off on being judgemental until a product is moving toward commercial use Do we really expect the designers to scale all the way up until some trial data are available?
Example: the first car made by Honda was powered by a motorcycle engine. You gotta start small.
Success would be good, right?
Interesting! only 150HP? How much would you need to keep the ship rolling once it's up to speed?
Considering that before steam and ICE engines were invented pretty big ship were powered by the wind, considering that the skysails are catching wind at a higher altitude than traditional sails and that their deployment is optimized by computer models that use GPS and weather prediction, I'd say that more than 150 hp can be coaxed out of them.
Of course, I doubt that a modern cargo ship could be powered exclusively with that technology, but fuel savings should not be negligible either.
Although I applaud the thinking out of the box concept of trying to harness the wind - I have to think this idea is a little weak. If you watch the video on the site of the sail in action - you will see the sail flying like a kite and -- diving dangerously close to the water - like a kite. We all know what happens when the wind shifts or dies when flying a kite - the kite dives and if not controlled it will hit the ground. Now can you imagine this huge kite sumerged under a raging sea weighted down by cables - trying to pull this thing back in and hoping it does not rip to shatters?
Sounds like a great start to a better future.
Traction kites are already a proven entity on a small scale, producing some of the fastest sailng speeds to date. Surely adapting this technology to lighten the ecological and economic burden is a fantastic idea? How can one possibly know the power generated by such a kite without knowing anything of it's design? I have flown 4m kites that can easily pull a car. We should support and encourage inspired thinking like this. I wish them all the best and look forward to seeing the technology in action.
Sham??? "Macrumpton", Why are you guys always looking on the black side, instead the bright side?
I am for 26 years in technology transfer, and I have never met a more genuine bunch of guys than Skysails. I know them since they drove around in their small catamaran, pulled by a kite surfing kite. Their development is cautios, not over optimistic and systematic. Macrumpton, have you ever heard of 'scaling'? Developments start small and are getting bigger and bigger. This year Skysails is already doubling the size to 320 sqm and the final goal around 2010 is 5000 sqm, which will provide 2500+ kW (lets say 3500 hp) of additional power.
This is the ideal hybrid drive for ships.
The sky sail looks to be a great success. I hope Maersk Line looks into this. It could save them some money but what do I know.
Lets just go back to the USS CONSTITUTION days and run it all by sail!! What, that means you'll have to wait a few extra weeks for things from overseas?? Oh darn, maybe it would keep people buying local!!
"poo poohed" not poo "pahed".
Love the sail idea. When can we see this on all ships especially including cruise ships as they are so non environmentally friendly.