Rigid Sail Power Discussed in New Research Paper

by Ship & Bunker News Team
Friday December 7, 2018

A new research paper has been published that discusses the use of rigid sails to power modern merchant vessels.

"Considerations regarding the use of rigid sails on modern powered ships" looks at the history of sails on ships and issues regarding their use.

If has been authored by Greg Atkinson, Chief Technology Officer at Eco Marine Power (EMP), a firm currently developing an array of solar and wind power technologies for the marine market.

The paper comes at a time of increasing attention on wind power, with Renault, Maersk Tankers, Airbus, and Ultrabulk all announcing marine wind-power projects in recent months.

The interest has been fuelled by an industry-wide pledge to reduce its GHG emissions, with Maersk this week saying it will have to abandon fossil fuels as it plans to be carbon-neutral by 2050.