Scandlines: Another hybrid ferry to get Norsepower rotor sail

Following the successful installation of the Norsepower rotor sail on the hybrid ferry M/V Copenhagen in 2020, and a year of demonstrated results, Danish ferry operator Scandlines has prepared the sister ferry M/V Berlin for its own rotor sail installation.

The hybrid ferry, M/V Berlin, also operates on the Rostock-Gedser route but, unlike M/V Copenhagen, is flagged by Germany.

When Scandlines decided to install Norsepower’s technology on the hybrid ferry M/V Copenhagen in 2019, the decision was based on technical data from the provider, a few other shipping companies’ experiences as well as its own studies and calculations.

The Norsepower rotor sail was then installed in May 2020. Now, Scandlines has had more than a year to collect data on how the technology works on M/V Copenhagen, and what effect it has on the route between Rostock to the south and Gedser to the north.

“We expected the M/V Copenhagen rotor sail to provide a 4 – 5% CO₂ reduction. That expectation has been met, so we have now taken the next step and prepared the sister ferry M/V Berlin for installation,” Michael Guldmann Petersen, Scandlines’ COO, commented.

The M/V Berlin operates the route between Rostock and Gedser. The route is said to be perfectly located to meet the requirement that gives the greatest benefit of the rotor sail for propulsion, namely that the wind must be perpendicular to the sail.

“Our route across the Baltic Sea is north/south bound, and the prevailing wind is from the west or east. In other words, our rotor sails have optimal conditions.”

“There has generally been a lot of interest in the rotor sail – and in the beginning even wonder among the passengers about the ‘chimney.’ Most of the crew are now also masters of technical explanations that are easy to understand,” Petersen added.

“We are delighted that Scandlines is expanding its use of our rotor sail technology after achieving its CO₂ emissions reduction targets on its first vessel, the M/V Copenhagen,” Tuomas Riski, CEO of Norsepower, said.

“Our … technology is technically applicable to approximately 30,000 vessels in the current global fleet of ships and we hope that this is a further signal to ship owners and operators that confidence is growing in wind propulsion technology.”

The preparation for the rotor sail includes building a steel foundation on the ferry, on which the system will be fixed.

The initial work took place when the M/V Berlin was on a planned yard stay at Remontowa in Poland at the end of May. The installation of the system itself is scheduled for 2022.