Navy charters kite-powered cargo ship to deliver equipment

(Credit: SkySails )

For the first time, the US Navy is using a new breed of sailing ship to deliver military equipment, a move that can potentially reduce fuel costs by 20 percent to 30 percent, or roughly $1,600 a day per ship, according to the ship's owners.

The Navy's Military Sealift Command (MSC) has chartered the "kite-assisted", fuel-saving 400-foot MV Beluga to deliver Air Force and Army cargo to from Europe to the US.

The MV Beluga uses a paraglider-shaped, SkySails-System, which supplements its conventional, internal combustion engines. The sail is basically a huge, computer-controlled kite that soars 100 to 300 yards into the air, using the wind to tow the ship at the end of a long tear-proof, synthetic rope.

The SkySails System is operated by the crew from a workstation on the bridge. All the steering and flight path adjustments are done automatically. "Emergency actions" are taken care of with a "push of a button." But the SkySail is only deployed offshore, outside the three-mile zone and traffic separation areas--just in case.

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 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.

[JimMcDish]

That is pretty amazing. Cool stuff. I would love to see one of those at sea.

www.anonweb.eu.tc

[Seaspray0]

Whenever I go to the beach and launch my sailboat, people give a strange look and always ask, "Where's the motor?" And of course, I get the typical "That's not a real boat if you don't have a motor." Here's the truth: boats and ships have crossed our seas for thousands of years without motors. It's only in the last 200 years that powered watercraft have become widely used. People forgot all about the wind. Now with the rise in fuel prices, I'm glad to see wind is making a comeback.

[gridwerk]

What third-world country are you trying to set sail in because you cant even walk into a 7-11 without seeing some reference to sailboats and sailing ships. You're trying to say that people don't know what a sailboat is?

"Here's the truth: boats and ships have crossed our seas for thousands of years without motors."-- WHAT? When did this happen? I always thought the world was first circumnavigated by The Minnow from Gilligans Island! Thank god you came along to set this straight about this new-fan-dangled invention called the, what'd you say it was again? Wond? Wund? Wind? Now I know why sailing types are always lambasted as pompous and arrogant- 'cause sometimes they are.

[gjkezski]

Hey Seaspray, pay no attention to this dweeb. There are so many out there that think you MUST have the newest, most powerful thing out there, whatever it is. It does not matter that the newest thing is noisier, sloppier, more expensive, harder to maintain & breaks down more often. It only matters that they have the newest & most modern piece of crap. I do not own a boat, I can't afford one but I Have heard people say that it aint a real boat without a motor.

[imalluneed]

I think that this is a good thing,and every cargo company should be looking into this. However it has to have a down side like speed How fast could these kites pull a ship that weighs 150 tons. But I guess even if used to aid the fuel burning on board is a good thing

Daniel
http://www.needknives.com