Developed the first domestic wind power fuel-saving system

Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME) announced on March 22, 2021, that it obtained the Approval in Principle (AIP) for the DSME rotor sail system, which is an eco-friendly ship technology applicable to ultra-large crude oil carriers and liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers, from Det Norske Veritas (DNV), a classification society in Norway.

The rotor sail system is one of the next-generation, eco-friendly auxiliary propulsion technologies that save fuel. It is a method in which a cylindrical column “rotor sail” is installed on the deck of a ship, and the power required for the propulsion of the ship is secured through the lift force generated by the rotating column in the wind during operation. The system is convenient because it provides a large propulsion force compared to its volume, and it can be installed and managed easily.

DSME expects that the application of the rotor sail system will save fuel by more than 5% in terms of the Energy Efficiency Design Index (EEDI), which is suggested as a measure of evaluation of energy saving by the International Maritime Organization (IMO). According to DSME, the technology using this concept has recently gained attention in the global shipbuilding industry as the expectations for it as an alternative technology in reducing ships’ fuel and carbon dioxide emissions are rising.

DSME aims to produce the rotor sail system for the first time in the domestic industry. Through this, the company plans to gain a competitive edge in the global bidding war and provide eco-friendly, highly fuel-efficient ships capable of saving operational costs for shipowners.

Mr. Dong Gyu Choi, managing director of DSME Research and Development Institute, said, “the company is actively conducting research activities to respond to increasingly stringent global regulations on the environment. We will focus on continuous research with much emphasis on the development of eco-friendly technology that can be applied immediately to ships as required by the global market and not only on long-term goals.”

In 2019, DSME also successfully delivered a ship wherein the Air Lubrication System (ALS) was applied. ALS was developed by DSME. In addition, DSME plans to improve its technological competitiveness by linking various fuel-saving devices such as a rotor sail system to DS4, an independent, autonomous navigation optimization system.