World News
Bound4Blue Hails First eSail Installation on Fishing Vessel
Engineering firm bound4blue has carried out the first installation of a modern wind-assisted propulsion system on a fishing vessel.
The company carried out the installation on the fishing vessel Balueiro Segundo in conjunction with technology firm Kyma and fishing organisation ORPAGU, the company said in an emailed statement on Monday.
The ship has been fitted with its 12m bound4blue eSail system, has completed a stability test and will begin sailing this week.
"This installation on the Balueiro Segundo vessel represents a great milestone for the company, as a first step towards future installations on larger ships and in different segments, such as tankers, bulk carriers, Ro-Ro or general cargo ships," Jose Miguel Bermudez, CEO of bound4blue, said in the statement.
"In fact, our eSail system is fully scalable; we're already manufacturing a 17-meter-high unit, fully tiltable, which will be installed on a general cargo ship after the summer, and we've also projected larger sails which are about to start being manufactured."
Shipping companies are increasingly taking on wind propulsion systems as a means of cutting fuel consumption and emissions. Few cargo ships are likely to operate under wind propulsion alone now, but the use of these systems on a complementary basis may reduce emissions by enough to allow firms to continue using fossil fuels for longer.