Mitsui O S K Lines : 2024/05/24 Wind Challenger to be Installed on Coal Carrier for J Power World's 1st Retrofit on an In service Vessel

May 24, 2024

TOKYO-Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd. (MOL; President & CEO: Takeshi Hashimoto) today announced that MOL and Electric Power Development Co., Ltd. (J-Power; President and CEO: Hitoshi Kanno; Head Office: Chuo-ku, Tokyo) have agreed to install the Wind Challenger hard sail wind power propulsion system (Note 1), which converts wind energy to propulsive force, on the coal carrier Kurotakisan Maru Ⅲ (Note 2), which transports steaming coal to J-Power's power stations. The installation is scheduled for the second half of 2025.

This marks the first installation of the Wind Challenger on a vessel currently in service by retrofitting. The introduction of the Wind Challenger is expected to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by about 5% on a Japan-Australia voyage and about 8% on a Japan-North America West Coast voyage, compared to a conventional vessel of the same type, thus contributing to reduced GHG emissions during fuel transportation. (Note 3)

CG rendering of the Kurotakisan Maru Ⅲ equipped with the Wind Challenger

MOL has set the target of achieving net-zero GHG emissions by 2050 in the "MOL Group Environmental Vision 2.2." One of the main actions to achieve this target is the "introduction of further energy-saving technologies," and the group plans to launch 25 vessels equipped with the Wind Challenger by 2030, increasing to 80 by 2035.

MOL will continue to pursue the use of wind-assisted energy-saving technologies such as the Wind Challenger to reduce GHG emissions and contribute to the realization of a low-carbon society.

Ship Name: Kurotakisan Maru Ⅲ
Ship operator: Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd.
LOA: 234.96 m
Breadth: 38.00 m
Deadweight tonnage: 89,999 tons
Delivery date: December 2, 2021
Shipyard: Oshima Shipbuilding Co., Ltd.
Ship registry: Republic of Panama

(Note 1) The Wind Challenger is a device developed by MOL and Oshima Shipbuilding, which converts wind energy to propulsive force using telescoping hard sails. For details, please refer to Wind Challenger | MOL Service Site (mol-service.com/en/). This is MOL's second Wind Challenger-equipped coal carrier, following the "Shofu Maru" for Tohoku Electric Power Co., Inc.

(Note 2) Please refer to the December 2, 2021, press release: 'Kurotakisan Maru Ⅲ' Delivered - 1st Ship of Next-generaiton Coal Carrier 'EeneX' Series -.

(Note 3) Fuel savings and GHG emission reductions from installing the Wind Challenger depend on the ship type, route, and other conditions of the ship on which it is installed, but the effect of the coal carrier Shofu Maru, which was already delivered, has been confirmed, as detailed in the May 15, 2024, press release: "Shofu Maru, World's 1st Wind Challenger-equipped Coal Carrier, Achieves Fuel Savings of 17%."

MOL Group 5 Sustainability Issues
MOL Group identifies "Sustainability Issues" (Materiality) as our key issues for sustainable growth with society through realization of the Group Vision.
We anticipate this initiative to contribute especially to the realization of "Environment -Conservation for Marine and global environment-" and "Innovation -Innovation for development in marine technology-".