Multipurpose Vessel to Install Wind Propulsion System With UK Government Funding

by Ship & Bunker News Team
Wednesday January 31, 2024

The UK government has awarded a £3.7 million grant to a project seeking to install a wind-assisted propulsion system on a multipurpose vessel.

GT Green Technologies, in collaboration with Carisbrooke Shipping and the University of Bristol, has been awarded the grant to install a 20 m AirWing system on the 11,200 DWT ship Vectis Progress, the company said in a LinkedIn post.

The grant comes as part of the Clean Maritime Demonstration Competition Round 4, funded by the UK Department for Transport.

Wind-assisted propulsion systems are gaining in popularity in the shipping industry as a means of cutting bunker consumption and GHG emissions. The systems are likely to become more widespread once shipping companies start to take on much more expensive alternative bunker fuels, making energy-saving systems more profitable.