Uses Today
The University of Flensburg is developing the Flensburg catamaran or Uni-cat Flensburg, a rotor-driven catamaran.
The German wind-turbine manufacturer Enercon launched and christened its new rotor-ship E-Ship 1 on 2 August 2008. The ship will be used to transport turbines and other equipment to locations around the world. The maiden delivery of turbines for Castledockrell Windfarm arrived in Dublin Port on 11th Aug 2010.
In 2009 the Finland-based maritime engineering company Wärtsilä unveiled a concept for a cruiseferry that would utilise flettner rotors as means of reducing fuel consumption. This concept has been linked with the Finnish ferry operator Viking Line, who have stated they will make a decision on whether or not they'll order new ships during 2010.
Stephen H. Salter and John Latham recently proposed the building of 1,500 robotic rotor-ships to mitigate global warming. The ships would spray seawater into the air to enhance cloud reflectivity. A prototype rotor ship was tested on Discovery Project Earth. The rotors were made of carbon fibre and were attached to a retrofitted trimaran and successfully propelled the vessel stably through the water at a speed of six knots. The focus of the experiment was based on the ability for the boat to move emissions free for a specialized purpose leaving it unclear whether or not the efficiency of the rotors was on parity, inferior to, or superior to conventionally propelled vessels.
Read more about this topic: Rotor Ship
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