S’pore-based Berge Bulk launches ‘most powerful sailing cargo ship’ to speed up decarbonisation

SINGAPORE – Singapore-based shipping firm Berge Bulk has launched a bulk carrier retrofitted with four mega steel sails that can harness wind power to cut fuel costs and reduce carbon emissions.

The 210,000-tonne Berge Olympus called at Singapore for the first time on Tuesday en route from China to Brazil on its maiden charter by mining company Vale.

Its sails – called WindWings – were developed by Britain’s BAR Technologies and built by Yara Marine Technologies in Norway.

They are 37.5m in height and 20m wide, making the carrier “the world’s most powerful sailing cargo ship”, Berge Bulk founder and chief executive James Marshall said.

The technology will help the Singapore-based shipowner save around six tonnes of fuel a day on an average worldwide route while cutting carbon emissions by about 19.5 tonnes a day, Mr Marshall said, without disclosing the sum invested in the new technology.

The move is part of a wider company goal to achieve carbon neutrality by 2025, well ahead of the latest International Maritime Organisation’s (IMO) target of hitting net-zero emissions from ships at or around 2050.

Berge Bulk said last year that it would invest US$1 billion (S$1.4 billion) over three years to execute a four-pillar decarbonisation plan that focuses on improving fleet efficiency, leveraging the latest maritime technology, piloting new fuels and investing in carbon capture.

Now that the Berge Olympus has set sail, Berge Bulk is evaluating installing WindWings on more of its vessels that trade on routes with favourable wind conditions, Mr Marshall said.

This would help the firm decarbonise at a quicker pace, given the shortage of biofuels available to power the rest of its fleet.

The firm now operates around 90 vessels transporting commodities like iron ore and grains.

The move also highlights opportunities for vessel owners to adopt new technologies that enable them to make a faster and greater difference in the maritime industry’s fight to slow the impact of climate change.

Another WindWings-powered bulk carrier, Mitsubishi Corporation-owned Pyxis Ocean, called on Singapore in September while on charter for American commodities trader Cargill.

And in July, a green methanol-powered container vessel operated by Maersk – the world’s first – en route to Copenhagen refuelled here with 300 tonnes of methanol from a bunker craft operated by Singapore firm Hong Lam Marine.

It was the world’s first ship-to-containership methanol bunkering operation.

The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore has noted that “the future of sustainable shipping depends on innovative solutions like utilising wind-powered technology and alternative marine fuels”.

A spokesman for the maritime classification and advisory firm DNV said more shipping companies are developing decarbonisation plans and fuel strategies for their existing fleet and new-build programmes.

“Some, mostly larger players, have decarbonsation goals that go beyond compliance because they are aware of the net-zero goals of many of their customers and the importance of having flexibility in their assets,” he noted.

For example, some charterers are incentivising shipowners who adopt green shipping technologies with longer charters and possible sharing of the fuel savings.

He added that shipping finance is also increasingly linked to decarbonisation targets, with banks scrutinising the alignment of a company’s sustainability targets with its financial performance as well as the IMO’s greenhouse gas-reduction targets.

A growing number of shipowners have been awarded with refinancing facilities and lower interest rates linked to achieving their green targets.

Still, DNV noted that far too few ships now run on low carbon or carbon-neutral fuels to have a real impact.

Shipping also struggles to compete with sectors like aviation for the same fuels for decarbonisation.

“Fuel flexibility will thus be key for shipowners and with carbon-neutral fuels seemingly destined to be costly and hard to source, the industry should explore all decarbonisation possibilities,” the spokesman said.