South Korean shipbuilder Samsung Heavy Industries has come up with its own wind sail design for an LNG carrier.
SHI said today that it has received basic design certification to ensure the safety and environmental standards of the new kit from the Korean Register of Shipping and the Liberian Registry.
An impression produced by the company shows a vessel fitted with three vertical wind sails, which appear to feature perforations in their lower areas.
In its design, SHI has also shifted the vessel’s bridge into the bow to ensure that visibility for navigation is unimpeded by the sails.
SHI said it has also developed an air reduction device, which it has dubbed “Saver Air”.
It said that in combination with the wing sail, this can significantly improve fuel efficiency while simultaneously reducing carbon emissions aligning with the broader industry goal of achieving carbon neutrality.
Local reports quote SHI head of technology department Jang Hae-ki as saying: “Wind power is an important axis in achieving carbon neutrality in the shipbuilding industry.”
He added: “We will focus more on developing products and technologies that utilise wind power.”
Several wind-assisted designs have emerged for LNG carriers this year.
In September, Chevron Shipping Co and Japan’s Mitsui OSK Lines announced they were planning to fit two wind sails to an LNG carrier newbuilding.
MOL and Oshima Shipbuilding’s Wind Challenger — a hard sail wind-assisted ship propulsion system — will be fitted to a new 174,000-cbm LNG carrier under construction at Hanwha Ocean for delivery in 2026.
