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    1. Business Briefs
    2. Equipment Engineering

    Automated kite system to be installed on coal carrier ship

    March 23, 2023
    Expected to reduce CO2 emissions from the ship by at least 20%.
    Courtesy Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Ltd.
    Artist rendering of the Seawing automated kite system on the Corona Citrus coal carrier.
    Artist rendering of the Seawing automated kite system on the Corona Citrus coal carrier.

    Offshore staff

    TOKYO – Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Ltd. (“K” LINE) and Electric Power Development Co., Ltd. (J-POWER) say they have decided to install the Seawing, an automated kite system using wind power, on the Corona Citrus, an 88,000 DWT-type special coal carrier for J-POWER.

    Completed on Sept. 11, 2019, the Corona Citrus is equipped with a ballast water treatment system for protecting marine ecosystems. The coal carrier also comes with an SOx scrubber, which is said to eliminate sulfur oxides in exhaust gas from its engine, so as to comply with the regulations on SOx emissions that came into effect globally in January 2020.

    The newly installed system is expected to reduce CO2 emissions from the ship by at least 20%. Thus, it is one of main “K” LINE’s initiatives to achieve its GHG reduction target.

    The Seawing system is said to combine expertise in aviation and maritime technologies in order to make propulsion more efficient. The kite can be deployed and stored automatically with simple switching operations. The system collects and analyzes weather data and marine data on a real-time basis and uses the information to optimize its performance and secure maximum safety.

    03.23.2023