Instead of large shipping vessels using dirty fossil fuels to traverse the world's oceans, Finnish cleantech firm Norsepower wants to help them harness the wind.
In favourable wind conditions, the company says its rotor sails help ships use less fuel - without losing speed.
The sails are a modernized version of the Flettner rotor – a spinning cylinder that harnesses wind power to propel a ship.
The technology itself is not new and was invented about one hundred years ago, but at the time rotor sails could not compete with diesel fuel. These days, maritime transport is responsible for about 2.5 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, according to the International Maritime Association.
Long-term trial
Norsepower plans to test out the rotors on a tanker owned by the Danish shipping giant Maersk Tankers in a long-term trial, which is set to start during the first half of 2018.
Maersk's 109,647-deadweight tonne tanker vessel will be retrofitted with two 30m tall by 5m diameter rotor sails, the company announced on Tuesday.
The trials will be undertaken in a partnership with Maersk, The Energy Technologies Institute, and Shell Shipping & Maritime, according to Norsepower.
Norsepower: Sails reduce fuel consumption by 10 percent
The company says that in the right wind conditions each sail can produce the thrust equivalent of 50kW of electricity - using only the wind.
When the sails are helping to push a vessel, the massive, fossil-fuel burning ship's engines can be turned down, saving both money and the environment. The company says the sails can provide fuel savings that range between seven and 10 percent.
The Maersk trials of the rotor sails are scheduled to start during the first half of 2018 and tests will continue until the end of 2019.