M.V. Sea Zhoushan – Very Large Ore Carrier (VLOC)

Completed in China in 2021, the VLOC Sea Zhoushan is fitted with tilting Rotor Sails supplied by Finland based Norsepower. She is the largest vessel to date to be fitted with Rotor Sails and the first bulk carrier of any size. The five Rotor Sails are 24m high x 4m diameter.

Built by COSCO Zhoushan Shipyard, Nantong, PRC

Owned by Pan Ocean Ship Management

Chartered to Vale (Brazil)

LOA 340m

Beam 62m

Summer draft 21m

GRT 173,666 tons

DWT 325,000 MT

Courtesy Norsepower                                                                        Courtesy marinetraffic.com

Norsepower’s Rotor Sails are a modernized version of the Flettner rotor, first devised in the 1920’s to provide auxiliary wind propulsion to engine power. Today, they are used to optimize fuel efficiency and reduce carbon emissions. The fully automated design allows the Sails to be tilted whenever the wind is strong enough to deliver fuel and emission savings. A study of the routes the vessel is likely to trade on estimates an efficiency gain of up to 8% corresponding to considerable fuel cost savings and a reduction of 3,400 tons of CO2 per year.

Should the project be judged successful, Vale plans to expand the use of Rotor Sails across its large fleet of chartered VLOCs.

 

 

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Featured Image courtesy – Vale