Donate Bitcoin

Donate Paypal


PeakOil is You

PeakOil is You

First major shipping company to use SkySails on cargo ship

Discussions of conventional and alternative energy production technologies.

First major shipping company to use SkySails on cargo ship

Unread postby lorenzo » Fri 28 Apr 2006, 15:33:57

Shipping company Beluga Shipping GmbH purchases the first SkySails system

In the coming year the first cargo ship will cross the oceans equipped with the SkySails-System.

Image

A corresponding sales contract has been signed between the Bremen-based shipping company Beluga and Hamburg’s manufacturer SkySails.

Thus, Beluga Shipping is the first shipping company worldwide to equip a ship with the towing kite propulsion system. Using this new technology ships can save up to 50% fuel costs and at the same time avoid extraordinarily high amounts of climate-damaging emissions.

“The Skysails technology is ready for market entry exactly at the right time”, confirms captain and managing partner of the Beluga Group, Bremen, Niels Stolbergs (45). ”the rising and continuously high price of oil is a matter that ship owners are already dealing with in order to be competitive in the present and future market. Furthermore, significantly tightened emission regulations, through which increasing costs will accrue, are being put into place. Offshore wind energy is an unbeatable cost-effective propulsion source available in large quantities, and we expect to gain a considerable competitive advantage by using the innovative SkySails system as a pioneer in this field. We are convinced that the SkySails system will revolutionise the cargo shipping industry.”

Following five years of development the first sale of a SkySails system is SkySails biggest success so far. “In the past year, despite heavy reservations we have proven that the SkySails technology is functioning. The completion of a first sales contract in the development period demonstrates the high interest of ship owners in the SkySails system. The utilisation of wind energy is inevitably cheaper than the combustion of expensive and continuously declining oil. Our costumers can thus, by using the SkySails technology, reduce both costs and emissions simultaneously. In that way, economic and ecological advantages are exemplary linked”, says SkySails managing partner Stephan Wrage (33).

The SkySails towing kite system “SKS 160“ will be installed, after delivery of the 140m long ship new build, on board of the multipurpose-heavy cargo freighter MS “Beluga SkySails”. In 2007 the worldwide first demonstration cruises of the new propulsion system will take place. With the MS “Beluga SkySails” proof of the productive efficiency, and thus the economic efficiency of the system will be provided. From 2008 the first SkySails system for cargo ships will be deliverable regularly.

Avoid emissions

According to a study from the University of Delaware (USA), the world trade fleet consumes approx. 289 million tons of fuel or 2 times more than Ger-many (approx. 125 million tons). Emissions of cargo ships belong to the global main causers of climate damaging gases, since they run on cheap and extremely sulphurous fuel oil. Experts from Lloyd’s Register Quality Assurance (London) estimate that shipping traffic, with a total of 10 million tons per year, is responsible for over 7% of the total worldwide output of sulphur dioxide. The United Nations have meanwhile reacted: According to the most recent regulations of the “International Maritime Organisation” (IMO, MARPOL 73/78, Annex VI) as well as EU regulations shipping companies have to considerably reduce toxic emissions of their ships in future. By consistently using the SkySails technology worldwide it would be possible to save over 146 million tons CO2, this equals approx. 15% of the CO2 emission of Germany.


Financing

The development of resource efficient technologies is one of the growth markets of the future. In the first quarter of 2006 SkySails is starting its 3rd and final round financing until readiness for market entry with the exclusive fi-nancing partner, the Oltmann Gruppe from Leer.

The Oltmann Gruppe focuses on the development of resource efficient technologies. Under their management a total of 8.05 million euros will be raised for the SkySails project by strategic, institutional and private partners. With the funds from 3rd round financing SkySails system for cargo ships will be developed in readiness for the start of production by the end of 2008. In parallel, the sales and service network as well as the production capacities and logistics network will be established.

About Beluga

Bremen’s shipping company Beluga Shipping GmbH was established in 1995 by Master Mariner Niels Stolberg. In 2005 the Beluga Group employed 120 people in Bremen and another 30 in international branch offices, such as Rotterdam, Houston, Shanghai, Beijing and São Paulo. Beluga manages and operates a fleet of 28 multipurpose-heavy lift-cargo vessels and is well- known for high flexibility in the project and heavy lift sector as well as rapid growth and expansion. Business activities of the Beluga Group comprise chartering, operating and ship management as well as project development and transport solutions for complex heavy lift and project cargo shipments worldwide.

[url=http://www.skysails.info/index.php?id=64&L=1&tx_ttnews[tt_news]=15&tx_ttnews[backPid]=6&cHash=cb61135633]Press release[/url].

This technology has the potential to reduce global bunker fuel consumption by 50%! That's saving a few millions of barrels a day!
User avatar
lorenzo
Intermediate Crude
Intermediate Crude
 
Posts: 2184
Joined: Sat 01 Jan 2005, 04:00:00

Re: First major shipping company to use SkySails on cargo sh

Unread postby Colorado-Valley » Fri 28 Apr 2006, 15:44:00

19th Century here we come. Next we'll get the steam locomotives and the buggies. It'll be great!
User avatar
Colorado-Valley
Tar Sands
Tar Sands
 
Posts: 729
Joined: Mon 16 Aug 2004, 03:00:00

Re: First major shipping company to use SkySails on cargo sh

Unread postby Dreamtwister » Fri 28 Apr 2006, 15:48:48

That's such an obvious photoshop job.
The whole of human history is a refutation by experiment of the concept of "moral world order". - Friedrich Nietzsche
User avatar
Dreamtwister
Intermediate Crude
Intermediate Crude
 
Posts: 2529
Joined: Mon 06 Feb 2006, 04:00:00

Re: First major shipping company to use SkySails on cargo sh

Unread postby lorenzo » Fri 28 Apr 2006, 15:50:52

Colorado-Valley wrote:19th Century here we come. Next we'll get the steam locomotives and the buggies. It'll be great!


Exactly! Except that in the 19th century we didn't have supercomputers and satellites. It's a slight difference.

Are you saying that this doesn't make sense either:

Image

Windmills are 5000 years old.
User avatar
lorenzo
Intermediate Crude
Intermediate Crude
 
Posts: 2184
Joined: Sat 01 Jan 2005, 04:00:00

Re: First major shipping company to use SkySails on cargo sh

Unread postby Cynus » Fri 28 Apr 2006, 15:52:18

Colorado-Valley wrote:19th Century here we come. Next we'll get the steam locomotives and the buggies. It'll be great!

But they won't be called steam locamotives and buggies, they'll be called The EcoLiner (tm) and The Horse-X 3000 (tm).

Actually, I'd llove to see the SkySails-System in action. I can't believe that those parachutes could pull a massive container ship like that.
One of these now am I too, a fugitive from the gods and a wanderer, at the mercy of raging Strife.
--Empedocles

http://apoxonbothyourhouses.blogspot.com
User avatar
Cynus
Tar Sands
Tar Sands
 
Posts: 644
Joined: Fri 13 Aug 2004, 03:00:00

Re: First major shipping company to use SkySails on cargo sh

Unread postby lorenzo » Fri 28 Apr 2006, 15:56:08

Cynus wrote:
Colorado-Valley wrote:19th Century here we come. Next we'll get the steam locomotives and the buggies. It'll be great!

But they won't be called steam locamotives and buggies, they'll be called The EcoLiner (tm) and The Horse-X 3000 (tm).


Hihi, how funny!

Seriously though, the SkySails are pretty neat technology, fully automated with a cybernetic robot, and guided by super satellites, reducing fuel consumption by 50%.

Why are you having such difficulty recognising that this technology makes sense? Is it because it's uncanny, given your blind adherence to a doomer cult?
User avatar
lorenzo
Intermediate Crude
Intermediate Crude
 
Posts: 2184
Joined: Sat 01 Jan 2005, 04:00:00

Re: First major shipping company to use SkySails on cargo sh

Unread postby Cynus » Fri 28 Apr 2006, 16:01:03

I was being sincere, I would love to see them in action. And when I said I couldn't believe they could pull a container ship it was in the sense of "I can't believe you ate that whole cake!"

And, I'm not a doomer, I'm a pessimist. There's a difference :)
Last edited by Cynus on Fri 28 Apr 2006, 16:11:48, edited 1 time in total.
One of these now am I too, a fugitive from the gods and a wanderer, at the mercy of raging Strife.
--Empedocles

http://apoxonbothyourhouses.blogspot.com
User avatar
Cynus
Tar Sands
Tar Sands
 
Posts: 644
Joined: Fri 13 Aug 2004, 03:00:00

Re: First major shipping company to use SkySails on cargo sh

Unread postby lorenzo » Fri 28 Apr 2006, 16:03:23

Cynus wrote:I was being sincere, I would love to see them in action. And when I said I couldn't believe they could pull a container ship it was in the sense of "I can't believe you ate that whole cake!"


Okay, in that case: they've already demonstrated the feasibility of the concept by pulling a cargo ship on the Baltic. The system worked great. I believe there's a video of that event on the website.
The secret lies in the simple fact that windspeeds increase by altitude and at 500-1000 metres, you have pretty ferocious winds; smack a kite the size of two football fields against that, and you create a few thousand horsepower. Enough to reduce fuel consumption considerably.
User avatar
lorenzo
Intermediate Crude
Intermediate Crude
 
Posts: 2184
Joined: Sat 01 Jan 2005, 04:00:00

Re: First major shipping company to use SkySails on cargo sh

Unread postby thor » Fri 28 Apr 2006, 16:14:09

The real polluters are airplanes. If they pull an A380 with this thing I will be impressed. :roll:
User avatar
thor
Coal
Coal
 
Posts: 482
Joined: Tue 21 Jun 2005, 03:00:00

Re: First major shipping company to use SkySails on cargo sh

Unread postby Gazzatrone » Fri 28 Apr 2006, 16:31:12

lorenzo wrote:Exactly! Except that in the 19th century we didn't have supercomputers and satellites. It's a slight difference.


And Nuclear power besides. Our main source of energy is burning fossil fuels. Even with satelites and supercomputers what has mankind achieved, how further along the evolutionary line have they propelled us intellectually and socially?

Don't let technology blind yourself to the truth that we haven't moved past the point of Abraham Derby's achievments in using coke.

Give me 20 great inventions or discoveries, that have changed the way society works since computers became household items and not tools for the science geek? That will be in the last decade.

I reckon you will struggle before you get to 10.

BTW the Ipod is NOT an innovation.

Fruits of the tree my friend think fruits of the tree.
User avatar
Gazzatrone
Tar Sands
Tar Sands
 
Posts: 581
Joined: Mon 07 Nov 2005, 04:00:00
Location: London, UK

Re: First major shipping company to use SkySails on cargo sh

Unread postby turtleT » Fri 28 Apr 2006, 16:37:47

I smell a scam all over this. Look at their website. My advice, don't invest. My prediction, you'll never see one of these in practical use.
turtleT
Peat
Peat
 
Posts: 51
Joined: Wed 16 Mar 2005, 04:00:00
Location: United States

Re: First major shipping company to use SkySails on cargo sh

Unread postby lorenzo » Fri 28 Apr 2006, 16:43:19

turtleT wrote:I smell a scam all over this. Look at their website. My advice, don't invest. My prediction, you'll never see one of these in practical use.


My advice: do invest. After all, they're German engineers (you know what that means) and the EU's investing, so they must be onto something.
User avatar
lorenzo
Intermediate Crude
Intermediate Crude
 
Posts: 2184
Joined: Sat 01 Jan 2005, 04:00:00

Re: First major shipping company to use SkySails on cargo sh

Unread postby bonjaski » Fri 28 Apr 2006, 17:44:10

those doomies are funny,

they get upset if one presents a good enviroment friendly solution :)))


whats the real problem behind them?
are they angry because they have no life?
no money for consumption? enviousness?
hate american way of life?
american interventions in irak?
are they moslems and want to see the end of west society?
russian agents ?
communists, that want the rural society back?
fanatic enviromentalists, that see in man the source of every problem?

who cares :)
User avatar
bonjaski
Peat
Peat
 
Posts: 134
Joined: Tue 07 Feb 2006, 04:00:00

Re: First major shipping company to use SkySails on cargo sh

Unread postby frankthetank » Fri 28 Apr 2006, 18:04:26

Image

While in the real world :)

The 160,000-tonne "Freedom of the Seas" arrives in Southampton on Saturday to prepare for the trip to New York.

The vessel, which has more than 1,800 rooms for up to 4,375 passengers at a time, is more than 1,112ft (339m) long - longer than 37 double-decker buses.

It boasts an onboard surfing pool with its own wave machine, a huge rock climbing wall and skating rink.


link

I would love to see more sail technology used, i love sailboats/motor boats. When you look @ history, sailing changed the way the world was shaped and it'll probably hold a larger roll in our future.

Aren't container ships incredibly fuel efficient the way it is?
User avatar
frankthetank
Light Sweet Crude
Light Sweet Crude
 
Posts: 6201
Joined: Thu 16 Sep 2004, 03:00:00
Location: Southwest WI

Re: First major shipping company to use SkySails on cargo sh

Unread postby lorenzo » Fri 28 Apr 2006, 18:09:54

bonjaski wrote:those doomies are funny,

they get upset if one presents a good enviroment friendly solution :)))


whats the real problem behind them?
are they angry because they have no life?
no money for consumption? enviousness?
hate american way of life?
american interventions in irak?
are they moslems and want to see the end of west society?
russian agents ?
communists, that want the rural society back?
fanatic enviromentalists, that see in man the source of every problem?


Lol, I'm all that, and even then I'm still a Peak Oil skeptic! :-D
User avatar
lorenzo
Intermediate Crude
Intermediate Crude
 
Posts: 2184
Joined: Sat 01 Jan 2005, 04:00:00

Re: First major shipping company to use SkySails on cargo sh

Unread postby Concerned » Fri 28 Apr 2006, 18:18:48

From their website
Avoid emission
According to a study from the University of Delaware (USA), the world trade fleet consumes approx. 289 million tons of fuel or 2 times more than Ger-many (approx. 125 million tons). Emissions of cargo ships belong to the global main causers of climate damaging gases, since they run on cheap and extremely sulphurous fuel oil. Experts from Lloyd’s Register Quality Assurance (London) estimate that shipping traffic, with a total of 10 million tons per year, is responsible for over 7% of the total worldwide output of sulphur dioxide. The United Nations have meanwhile reacted: According to the most recent regulations of the “International Maritime Organisation” (IMO, MARPOL 73/78, Annex VI) as well as EU regulations shipping companies have to considerably reduce toxic emissions of their ships in future. By consistently using the SkySails technology worldwide it would be possible to save over 146 million tons CO2, this equals approx. 15% of the CO2 emission of Germany.

Amazing
This is truly amazing technology. It's early days yet however there is alot of potential benefits for fuel savings and environmental improvement.

@_@ never would have thought that shipping used so much fuel globally. Saving 50% of that has to be good.

Once further proven these sails should be mandatory. How does one invest whats their stock market code?
"Once the game is over, the king and the pawn go back in the same box."
-Italian Proverb
User avatar
Concerned
Heavy Crude
Heavy Crude
 
Posts: 1571
Joined: Thu 23 Sep 2004, 03:00:00

Re: First major shipping company to use SkySails on cargo sh

Unread postby lorenzo » Fri 28 Apr 2006, 18:53:25

Well 289 million tons of oil per year is roughly 6 million barrels a day. Not bad if you can cut that in half.



[Fanatics: please don't start with: "hey but it takes vaaaaast amounts of oil to make those kites and that cable"... please don't... really...]
User avatar
lorenzo
Intermediate Crude
Intermediate Crude
 
Posts: 2184
Joined: Sat 01 Jan 2005, 04:00:00

Re: First major shipping company to use SkySails on cargo sh

Unread postby coyote » Sat 29 Apr 2006, 14:16:58

That looks pretty bizarre, but if it works, cool.
Lord, here comes the flood
We'll say goodbye to flesh and blood
If again the seas are silent in any still alive
It'll be those who gave their island to survive...
User avatar
coyote
News Editor
News Editor
 
Posts: 1979
Joined: Sun 23 Oct 2005, 03:00:00
Location: East of Eden

Re: First major shipping company to use SkySails on cargo sh

Unread postby TommyJefferson » Sat 29 Apr 2006, 20:31:32

That's pretty cool.

Their video was slow to load, but interesting to watch.
Conform . Consume . Obey .
User avatar
TommyJefferson
Heavy Crude
Heavy Crude
 
Posts: 1757
Joined: Thu 19 Aug 2004, 03:00:00
Location: Texas and Los Angeles

Next

Return to Energy Technology

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 49 guests