Marubeni Taps 'Suction Sails' for Bulk Carrier

MMSL PTE. LTD., a wholly owned subsidiary of Marubeni Corporation based in Singapore signed an agreement with bound4blue to install four suction sails on the Crimson Kingdom, making it the first wind-assisted vessel owned by Marubeni. 

According to the preliminary studies, the 229-m Panamax bulk carrier will be retrofitted in 2023/24 with four 26-m eSAILs, expected to be the largest suction sails ever built and installed on a vessel. After the installation, the vessel will be operated by MaruKlav Management Inc., which is a Panamax Pool company jointly owned by Marubeni and Torvald Klaveness Group, a shipping company in Norway.

The suction sails are expected to reduce the ship’s fuel costs and annual CO2 emissions by up to 20 percent.