Cargo
The German company SkySails has developed ship-pulling kites as a supplemental power source for cargo ships, first tested in January 2008 on the ship MS Beluga Skysails. Trials on this 55 m ship have shown that, in favorable winds, the kite increases fuel-efficiency by up to 30%. This system is planned to be in full commercial production late 2008. Kites are also available as an auxiliary sail or emergency spinnaker for sailing boats. Self-launching Parafoil kites are attached to the mast.
MS Beluga Skysails is the world's first commercial container cargo ship which is partially powered by a giant computer-controlled kite (160 m². or 1,722 sq ft.). The kite could reduce fuel consumption by 20%. It was launched 17 December 2007 and is set to leave the northern German port of Bremerhaven to Guanta, Venezuela at 1700 local time (1600 GMT), 22 January 2008. Stephan Wrage, managing director of SkySails GmbH announced: "During the next few months we will finally be able to prove that our technology works in practice and significantly reduces fuel consumption and emissions." Verena Frank, project manager at Beluga Shipping GmbH, SkySails GmbH's partner further stated that "the project's core concept was using wind energy as auxiliary propulsion power and using wind as a free of charge energy". Kite yachting may have started with Benjamin Franklin's pond pull. English Channel crossing.
Read more about this topic: Kite Applications
Famous quotes containing the word cargo:
“Nitrates and phosphates for ammunition. The seeds of war. They’re loading a full cargo of death. And when that ship takes it home, the world will die a little more.”
—Earl Felton, and Richard Fleischer. Captain Nemo (James Mason)