An Isle of Wight-based shipping company is preparing to conduct sea trials with one of its vessels to test a new Government-backed wind propulsion system that aims to reduce vessel emissions by up to 30%.
Maritime Minister Mike Kane has this week visited Hull to see how £3.7 of Clean Maritime Demonstration Competition funding is being utilised in the city, where the first GT Wings’ AirWing is being assembled at MMS Docks.
AirWing employs novel airflow technology to maximise thrust, helping ship owners meet stringent EU and IMO environmental standards while achieving substantial fuel savings.
The first 20m-tall AirWing is to be installed on the 124m general cargo vessel ‘Vectis Progress’, belonging to Carisbrooke Shipping. Sea trials will commence in March.
Other successful projects supported by CMDC funding have included the installation of Britain’s first electric chargepoint network across ports in the South West; the largest ever retrofit of a hydrogen research vessel in Wales, and the installation of a state-of-the-art carbon capture system on a vessel.
George Thompson, CEO of GT Wings, says:
“We’re extremely excited about the imminent launch of AirWing™, our next-generation, compact wind propulsion technology designed to help even the most challenging ocean-going vessels decarbonise by harnessing wind power.
“This progressive step has been made possible thanks to the support of the Clean Maritime Demonstration Competition, which recognised the transformative potential of this innovation and GT Wings’ ability to scale it for market impact.
Article continues below this advertisement “With the UK leading the way in modern wind propulsion, it’s an exciting time to be driving fresh innovation in this space.”
Captain Simon Merritt, Senior Fleet Manager at Carisbrooke Shipping Ltd, has said:
“We look forward to the first AirWing being installed on our cargo ship this month, significantly reducing fuel consumption and emissions.
“This project has been accelerated with funding from Department for Transport and Innovate UK under CMDC Round 4. It demonstrates the power of collaboration between leading British companies, turning innovative ideas into real solutions to decarbonise the maritime industry while creating job opportunities in the UK.”
oh good god what ever next for this netzero bollocks..
I was reading earlier on National news that
Petrol and Diesel may soon become unavailable
“All part of the net zero con”
2030 is when you can no longer buy new
Petrol or Diesel vehicles, people are under the
impression after that date they will still be able to
drive around in their vehicles
THEY WILL BE IN FOR A BIG SURPRISE
They are forcing EVs on people.
I will keep driving my Diesel while I still can,
turns me off purchasing a newer model though!.
Simple, just hoist some sails.
That would never take off, silly
They have already tried this years ago and it was a waste of time and money. This government is totally useless, have not got any braincells at all, total waste of money but we got a 20 billion black hole, lying sods.