December 18, 2006. Copyright 2006, Graphic News. All rights reserved

Winds of change about to blow through the shipping industry
By Mark Rutter

LONDON, December 18, Graphic News:  If you happen to see a kite flying high above a ship chances are it wonÕt be the crew indulging in their favourite pastime, but a new propulsion aid for cargo ships. This latest innovation for harnessing ocean winds uses a paraglider-shaped sail tethered by a rope to the deck of the ship. The so-called ÒSkySailÓ helps to pull the vessel along, cutting down fuel use and polluting emissions.
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The SkySail is the brainchild of kite flying enthusiast Stephan Wrage. After starting up his Hamburg-based firm several years ago, he is now in the process of developing a huge 320 square-metre (3,445 square-foot) kite that can be used to tow large cargo ships. Flying 100-300 metres (330-990 feet) above the vessel, the SkySail takes advantage of the strongest winds, with adjustments to its position made automatically through an on-board computer. The technology can be fitted to existing ships as well as being incorporated into new ships during construction.
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The SkySail Company is collaborating with the German shipping firm Beluga, and a number of other companies, in a project that has attracted 1.2 million euros ($1.6 million) in European Union funding. Final testing and crew training are currently taking place on the 55-metre (180-foot) vessel MV Beaufort under different wind and weather conditions, before trials begin on an ocean-going voyage. The 140-metre (460-foot) MS Beluga SkySails is set to become the first freighter to use the new propulsion aid to cross an ocean by sailing from Europe to South America in April 2007. If the sail performs as expected, Beluga says it will fit it to the rest of its fleet.
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Other wind-harvesting systems, such as the Danish WindShip project in the 1990s, have been tried in recent times but failed because they relied on large masts, which create drag and slow the ship down. Masts also take up container space and make loading and unloading more difficult. Foldable or retractable masts have proved to be prohibitively expensive. At between 500,000 and 2.5 million euros ($656,000-$3.28 million), depending on the vessel's size, fitting a SkySail is not cheap. There is also the cost of employing an engineer to operate the sail.
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However, dramatic rises in fuel costs over the last decade have helped the economics of the SkySail. Under optimum wind conditions, the sail should cut fuel consumption in half. It is estimated that the MS Beluga SkySails will save 10-20% in fuel costs over a typical year of operation. There is also the pressing need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The European Union and governments around the world are slowly introducing policies that offer financial incentives to emit fewer pollutants, as well as forcing shipping to use more expensive, cleaner fuel.
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With around 30,000 merchant ships operating around the world, the potential market for the SkySail is large. As the company hopes eventually to install its propulsion aid aboard other vessels, including yachts and fishing trawlers, it might not be long before the surreal spectacle of a kite-flying ship is commonplace on the seas.
/ENDS