Asia/Pacific News
Swire Trials Wind-Power and Bio-Fuel in Green Shipping Projects
Swire Shipping is involved in two, alternative fuel for shipping projects.
One project, via its Singapore-based subsidiary China Navigation Company, is looking at a small, wind-powered cargo vessel to link islands in the South Pacific.
Company executive Simon Bennett speaking at a recent maritime event said that Swire had trialled a prototype cargo ship on one of its routes around the Micronesian islands, according to maritime news provider Lloyd's List.
The 250 deadweight tonne prototype vessel measures 35 meters in length and is equipped with a 1 megawatt hour battery powered by solar panels. Cargo capacity is around 70 metric tonnes of cargo or up to 20 persons.
The other project is developing an engine capable of running on biofuel oil and Swire is working with partners Argent Energy and Winterthur G&D on this.
Phase 1 has been successfully conducted with a Wärtsilä-developed Test Bed RTX-6 engine running on Argent biofuel oil for 57 hours, according to the report. Phase 2 comprised a three-day, small-scale field test with the company's B Delta bulk carrier Wulin.
Bennett spoke at the Future-Ready Shipping 2017 event in Singapore.
