SIMIC

THE Maltese-lagged 20,890-dwt tanker Chemical Challenger, the first chemical tanker to test sails, has left Rotterdam, hoping to plot a route to reduce the shipping industry's carbon footprint, reported the Isle of Man's Tech Xplore.

Built in Japan and equiped with four giant 16-metre-high (52 foot, 6 inch) sails similar to aircraft wings, the tanker's Dutch owners hope to cut fuel consumption by 10 to 20 per cent as the sails will allow the ship's captain to throttle back on the engine.



"As an avid sailor myself, I have been thinking for a long time how we can make our industry more sustainable," said Niels Grotz, chief executive of Chemship, which operates a fleet of chemical tankers mainly between US ports in the Gulf of Mexico and the eastern Mediterranean.



"Today we launch our first wind-assisted chemical tanker, which we hope will serve as an example to the rest of the world," Mr Grotz told Agence France-Presse at the ship's unveiling.



Global shipping - which burns diesel and other bunker fuels - contributed two per cent of the world's carbon emissions in 2022, the International Energy Agency said.



New guidelines by the International Maritime Organisation said shipping emissions needed to be cut by at least 40 per cent by 2030 and down to zero by around 2050 if the Paris Climate Accords are to be achieved.



"Shipping has always been extremely competitive and it will be a struggle to reach these targets," admitted Mr Grotz, who added the company was unlikely to "make money" on its latest project.