Want To Go Green?, Go Fly A Kite! :: Oblate Spheroid

Kite Runner has a new definition. A movie by the same name recently was released in December 2007 and the term Kite Runner referred to the kite retrieving member of a kite flying team in Afghani culture that flew kites in competition.

The global package delivery company DHL has a different idea what the term Kite Runner should refer to here on the Oblate Spheroid. 

Lanes - Kitesurfing off of the coast of Maui. Image Credit: Christian Black

This week will mark the first time a modern container bulk transport ship will use wind to aid in its propulsion across the vast Atlantic Ocean. DHL will launch a kite sail in a method similar to the windsurfing sport pioneered in the late 1990’s off of the Hawaiian coast of Maui.

The kite sail that will be deployed from a launch mast at the front of the ship measures more than the width of three football fields, or just under 350 Yards.

This new Kite Runner wind aided transport method is expected to save between 10% and 35% making the savings per year on fuel alone potentially total over $400,000 per year.

This excerpted from a press release posted at The NewsMarket -

DHL Uses First Wind-Propelled Cargo Vessel to Make Delivery to South America DHL
Deutsche Post World Net - 21-Jan-2008

The MS Beluga SkySails, the world’s first cargo vessel with the SkySails towing kite system, is being used for commercial transport for the first time. It will carry cargo from Bremen to Venezuela on behalf of DHL Global Forwarding, the ocean and air freight carrier of the Deutsche Post World Net Group.

The vessel features a new wind propulsion system with a towing kite measuring up to 320 metres, that provides additional thrust for the ship at sea, a sustainable solution for reducing fuel consumption, costs and emissions.

Depending on wind conditions, fuel costs can be lowered between ten and 35 percent. A small, 87-metre-long freighter would thus save an average of 280,000 Euros in fuel costs per year.
Reference Here>>

Bremen (Bremenhaven) - Germany's biggest North Sea coastal town, Europe's most important fishing port, member of the exclusive club of the world's leading container ports, shipbuilding location with an international reputation and, as a rendezvous for the world's most beautiful luxury liners and passenger ships, Germany's number one amongst the cruise ship ports of the world. Image Credit: Senatskanzlei (Bremen Werbung).

And this -

Eco-friendly sea transport from Bremen to Venezuela
DHL - Bremen, Germany - 18 January 2008

DHL first company to use ocean-going cargo vessel with wind propulsion system
Shipping becomes safer, more profitable and more eco-friendly

The MS Beluga SkySails, the world's first cargo vessel with the innovative SkySails towing kite system, is being used for a commercial transport for the first time. It will carry the first parts of a complete particle board factory from Bemen to Venezuela on behalf of DHL Global Forwarding, the ocean and air freight carrier of the Deutsche Post World Net Group.
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DHL will transport the particle board factory to South America for its client, Dieffenbacher, in a total of eight partial shipments. It is to be used for a government-sponsored housing project.
Claus Krüger, director at DHL Global Forwarding and responsible for the Project Group Germany, says: "Besides offering our customers first-rate quality in ocean and air freight transports, we are always mindful of the increased need for sustainable logistics solutions. The Beluga SkySails is a forward-looking example of how to implement low-emission ocean freight transports. The promising environmental aspects of the new SkySails System were a major factor in our decision for this charter."
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On 15th December 2007, the MS Beluga SkySails was christened in Hamburg by Eva Luise Köhler, wife of Germany's Federal President. The so-called "multipurpose heavy-lift carrier" belongs to the fleet of Bremen shipping company Beluga Shipping GmbH.

The ship is based on the simple principle that wind is cheaper than oil and, at sea, the most inexpensive and cleanest source of energy. The wind propulsion system, which features a towing kite measuring up to 320 square metres, was developed by the Hamburg firm SkySails and can now be used on ocean-going vessels for the first time.
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The MS Beluga SkySails tied up in Bremen's Neustädter Harbour at noon on Friday. DHL Global Forwarding immediately began loading the freighter with parts of the factory supplied by Dieffenbacher, which is based in Eppingen, Baden-Württemberg. Krüger: "In its first partial shipment, the vessel is transporting about 10,000 freight tons from Bremen to Guanta, Venezuela. The route across the Atlantic will take a good two weeks."
Reference Here>>