Boomsma Shipping fits eConowind’s VentiFoil on its cargo ship

Dutch shipowner Boomsma Shipping has installed its first two eConowind VentiFoil wind-assisted propulsion units on the general cargo vessel MV Frisian Sea.

The installation comes eight months after the duo signed the contract, and the duo worked closely together to manage the installation during a port call in Harlingen despite the impact of the pandemic.

The Dutch-flagged MV Frisian Sea, a 6477dwt general cargo vessel has made its maiden voyage to Vasteras, Sweden with the VentiFoils in operation, during which eConowind has been conducting the start-up tests. The coming month will be used to optimize the system and operations and train the crew.

“We believe it is necessary and very important to meet sustainability challenges to reduce our environmental footprint. Together with the IMO decarbonization goals for 2050, we want to do our part to reduce our fuel consumption and CO2 emissions as soon as possible,” Johan Boomsma, co-owner of Boomsma Shipping BV, said.

The VentiFoils by eConowind are designed as compact, non-rotating, wing profiles, creating superior thrust by means of the principle of boundary-layer-suction, for which ventilators are mounted inside the VentiFoils.

Due to the generated thrust by the eConowind unit, the thrust of the propeller can be reduced to maintain the same speed leading to fuel savings and emission reductions.

eConowind said that the new Flatrack design has the flexibility of a container, being movable by the hatch crane, needs limited installation time and has possibility for use on several vessels.

With this system the units can be positioned just in front of the superstructure during loading etc.

“With the help of the Wind Assisted Ship Propulsion (WASP) project, part of the EU Interreg North Sea region program, we will now test the performance during the coming two years. This innovative technology has to work in our daily operations with various wind conditions. We hope to find savings to be in the region of 10%,“ Tessa Remery, project coordinator, said.

The WASP project is funded by the Interreg North Sea Europe program, part of the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and brings together universities and wind-assist technology providers with ship owners to research, trial and validate the operational performance of a selection of wind propulsion solutions.

“The installation of the Flatrack solution was relatively easy. We now expect they will give optimal results on our ship. Once the crew gets some experience, we expect no trouble in handling the systems using our hatch cranes,” Ton Boomsma, co-owner and CTO of the company commented.

Frank Nieuwenhuis, CEO of eConowind added that the new Flatrack design based on Boomsma’s concept will now be added to its product portfolio as a standard product and has the possibility for use on several vessels.