MOL Takes Delivery of Wind-Powered Coal Carrier

by Ship & Bunker News Team
Tuesday October 11, 2022

Japanese shipping company MOL has taken delivery of the world's first cargo vessel equipped with a Wind Challenger hard sail wind propulsion system.

The bulkerĀ Shofu MaruĀ has started operations after being delivered on October 7, the company said in a statement on its website on Monday.

The ship will mainly transport coal from Australia, Indonesia and North America.

The Wind Challenger sail is expected to cut the vessel's GHG emissions by about 5% on a Japan-Australia voyage and by about 8% on a Japan-North America West Coast voyage, compared with a similar vessel running on conventional fuels.

"MOL and Tohoku Electric Power Co. continue to work toward both stable transport of energy resources and reduction of their environmental impact," the company said in the statement.