Tech & Biz

Kite-Powered Cargo Ship: US Navy Sets Sail, Literally

by Jordan Yerman | October 12, 2008 at 11:01 am

1016 views | 6 Recommendations | 1 comment

The US navy chartered the MV Beluga to deliver US military cargo from Europe to the States. The Beluga is a kite-assisted ship, equipped with a gigantic parachute-like wind capture device to help it save on fuel. A dedicated computer system controls the kite apparatus, which reduces the ship's fuel consumption by up to 30%.

Unlike conventional sails, the kite has no superstructures that can get in the way of loading and unloading dockside, or scrape the bottom side of bridges as it sails under. The kite folds up, and can be stowed in an area the size of a telephone booth, according to developer SkySails GmbH & Co. KG of Hamburg, Germany. And, the SkySail can "generate two to three times more power per square meter sail area than conventional sails," according to the company. The environmental benefits have yet to calculated.

Though wind power was not a factor in awarding the contract, the shipping company was likely "able to capitalize on fuel savings to make its offer more competitive," according to MSC. "MSC values innovation that leads to cost savings," said Captain Nick Holman, of Sealift Logistics Command Europe.

Talk about running a kite ship! ThankyouverymuchI'llbehereallweek.

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Edmund Jenks

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 15:37 on October 12th, 2008

jordan, I like this story. It's good stuff.

Original cargo ship posting here:

http://oblate-spheroid.blogspot.com/2008/01/want-to-go-green-go-fly-kite.html

There are tremendous benefits from using modified sail techniques in order to become more Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} efficient and ... competitive!