Webb Institute

298 Crescent Beach Road

Glen Cove, NY 11542

Phone: (516) 671-2213

webb.edu

December 10, 2021

Dr. John Lutz

Adjunct Professor of English
Webb Institute
298 Crescent Beach Road
Glen Cove, NY 11542

Dear Dr. Lutz:

This research report is in response to your request on November 3rd, 2021; from the list of
prompts provided, I chose to discuss the topic of fuel efficiency. The exact prompt is as follows:
Ship operators are very keen to reduce fuel costs and are considering various means to improve
efficiency. Describe and evaluate the most promising available and future technologies that
might accomplish this goal.

In my paper, I first start by discussing alterative fuels—specifically, biofuels, hydrogen fuel

cells, and solar energy. I then transition into talking about wind assisted ship propulsion and the
current promising technologies in this sector of energy innovation, including soft sails, rigid
sails, kites, Flettner rotors, and weather routing technology. I close my paper by discussing hull
optimization, specifically through the inclusion of bulbous bows, analysis of superstructure air
resistance and weights, and utilization of hull coatings.

I chose to write about fuel efficiency because wind assisted ship propulsion is a sector of marine
engineering about which I am extremely passionate. When I found out Webb Institute was hosting
a conference on this subject, I thought it would be a valuable experience to take notes at this
conference and integrate them into a paper on the subject. During my experience completing
research on other aspects of improving fuel efficiency, I had the opportunity to learn about
methods other than wind assist which effectively reduce the fuel emissions of ships. I found these
solutions to be extremely interesting; hopefully this sentiment is communicated in my paper.

Sincerely,

Anna Lindberg
Webb Institute Student
alindberg25@webb.edu
Enclosure: Research Paper
 Webb Institute

RESEARCH REPORT

ANNA LINDBERG
TECHNICAL COMMUNICATIONS
DECEMBER 10, 2021
 ABSTRACT

In this paper, several different solutions to increasing the fuel efficiency of vessels in the
shipping industry are summarized. A section on alternative fuels discusses biofuels, hydrogen
fuel cells, and solar cells. Current innovations in wind assisted ship propulsion, including soft
sails, rigid sails, kites, Flettner rotors, and weather routing software, are highlighted as one of the
most promising methods of decreasing fuel emissions. The paper ends with a discussion on
reducing the resistance of a ship’s hull through hull optimization, inclusion of a bulbous bow,
aerodynamic and weight analysis of a ship’s superstructure, and utilization of hull coatings.

i
 INTRODUCTION

The earliest traces of human civilization indicate that societies have nearly always relied

on the water as a way to connect and trade with each other. First using human propulsion, ships

later evolved to take advantage of the wind with large, billowing sails. Mechanical propulsion in

the form of steam power changed the game of shipping, though. No longer did sailors have to

rely on weather systems: they could decide exactly where and when they wanted a ship to sail.

This mindset continued the development of fuel technology, propelling it to explore the world of

fossil fuels. As seen in Figure 1, the overwhelming majority of the marine industry currently

relies on fossil fuels to power their ships.

Figure 1. Propulsion systems used in Norwegian waters, as of 2013.

Source: (Jafarzadeh & Schjølberg 2018)

2
Although this chart displays a representative study of the ships in Norwegian waters, the results

can easily be extrapolated to the rest of the shipping industry. With fossil fuels rising in price and

environmental regulations becoming more important to consider, it is clear that ship operators

will need to increase their fuel efficiency if they want to remain involved in this vital sector of

global industry. Many different approaches to improving the fuel efficiency of ships currently

exist in the marine industry; some of the most promising which also account for environmental

concerns include using alternative fuel sources, integrating wind assisted ship propulsion, and

modifying ship hulls to decrease resistance.

DISCUSSION

ALTERNATIVE FUELS

One method of decreasing fuel costs through reducing fossil fuel consumption is to

switch the type of fuel used in propulsion; some alternates include biofuels, hydrogen fuel cells,

solar energy, and wind energy. Biofuels, though currently expensive, offer a simple solution to

reducing carbon emissions. Right now, “costs are higher for advanced biofuels with the larger…

emission savings and fewer sustainability concerns, due to the complexity and immaturity of the

production processes” (Balcombe et al. 2019). Biofuels can be created from food waste and in

some cases, “can be used as a ‘drop-in’ fuel, [which requires] very little alteration to the

incumbent engines” (Balcombe et al. 2019). This contrasts with many other alternative fuels,

which require large investments in updating the engine of a ship. As processes to distill biofuels

become more streamlined in the future, though, this alternative source of energy will decrease in

cost and allow ship operators to save on costs of fuel without having to update the complete

propulsion system of their ship. Similar to biofuels, hydrogen fuel cells also look to be essential

to the future of fuel efficiency.

3
 While they are also currently unfeasible for large scale integration, their high energy

density and easily sourced fuel mean that hydrogen fuel cells stand as one of most promising

future fuel sources. When properly used, the efficiency of these cells can “[reach] 99%”; the

hydrogen required to run these cells can be sourced from water electrolysis and their sole

emissions are “water vapor” (Herdzik 2021). Fuel cells operate by separating hydrogen into

protons and electrons at the anode of the cell through electrolysis; after this, the electrons are run

through a circuit to create clean electricity. At the cathode of the cell, the electrons recombine

with protons and oxygen to create water. The cost that currently prevents hydrogen fuel cells

from being a main way of increasing fuel efficiency is the current cost of eletctrolysers, but as

technology improves this cost should decrease and allow hydrogen fuel cells to be a reliable

solution to reducing fuel costs (Balcombe et al. 2019). While biofuels and hydrogen look to be

promising in the future, electric propulsion systems are currently a feasible way to reduce fuel

consumption.

Electric propulsion systems can obtain their energy from several renewable sources,

including solar and wind. Solar power, while it might seem like a great solution to providing a

constant source of electricity during passages, does not translate to being an efficient source of

energy. There is simply too much bulky machinery and piping present on deck to allow for the

installation of arrays of solar cells, much less the number of cells necessary to effectively

contribute to powering a ship. Additionally, the constant movement on deck during the cargo

loading process does not combine well with the comparatively delicate nature of solar cells,

adding to their inability to be considered as a long-term option of increasing fuel efficiency in the

marine sector. That being said, wind energy is a much more feasible method of generating

electricity for vessel propulsion. The apparatuses associated with collecting wind energy are

usually more durable than solar cells; they also take up less space, as they usually extend
4
vertically into the sky as opposed to horizontally across deck. As an added benefit, the costs

associated with wind energy are restricted to the initial installation and later maintenance of the

equipment, as wind is an open resource. Because of the myriad advantages of wind propulsion, a

complete assessment of wind assisted ship propulsion and the different ways to integrate this

technology into shipping will be made in the next section of this paper.

WIND ASSISTED SHIP PROPULSION

An increasingly popular approach to reducing fuel costs has been to consider returning to

wind propulsion in the shipping industry. Over the past few decades, soft sails, rigid sails, kites,

and rotors have been proposed as different ways to approach integrating wind energy. The

foundations of the shipping industry were built on soft sails; with recent technology, this method

of propulsion has been reinvented with the DynaRig system and OceanWings wingsails.

Originally developed by German engineer Wilhelm Prölss during the 1960s, the DynaRig system

was first constructed by Dykstra Naval Architects during the development of the Maltese Falcon

(Dykstra 2021). This technologically advanced superyacht was launched from Turkey in 2006; at

the time of its launch, the Maltese Falcon was the largest sailing yacht in the world (Dykstra

2021). The DynaRig takes a different approach to the idea of sail trim: instead of having sailors

trim the sails as they would with a traditional sailing rig, the DynaRig automates the process by

rotating the mast to optimize the sails’ angle of attack to the wind. As seen in Figure 2, the sails

centrally unfurl from the mast and expand outwards along horizontal tracks in the rig.

5
 Figure 2. A proposed zero-emission cargo ship with DynaRig sails.

Source: (Petković et al. 2021)

This creates a full set of sails that has “become a popular soft sail technology mainly because of

its easy to use characteristics and self-sustainability” (Petković et al. 2021). The angle of mast

rotation is decided using data collected from a full monitoring system installed in the mast and

sail tracks; on the Maltese Falcon, the fiber optic structural monitoring system was sourced from

MagmaStructures and the sail handling software was developed by Caccini (Dykstra 2021). The

actions of mast rotation and sail deployment are easily managed from one control panel on the

bridge, making the DynaRig system simple for a shorthanded crew to control. The cost benefits

of the DynaRig are not restricted to its low running costs, though. The DynaRig has twice the

efficiency of a traditional square rig because of its rotatable masts; sea trials have also

demonstrated that the DynaRig reduces the “total required thrust…by 61%” (Dykstra 2021;

Petković et al. 2021). This designates the DynaRig system as not only one of the most promising

developments in wind assisted ship propulsion, but in fuel efficiency as a whole. The

OceanWings wingsail system is another application of soft sails currently revolutionizing the

shipping industry. Based on designs from the 2010 America’s Cup, OceanWings worked to

develop soft wingsails based on the aeronautically optimized design of high-performance rigid

6
wingsails. These sails have sensors installed on them which work with motors to adjust the

wingsail angle to the ideal angle of attack and camber; they are additionally reefable and

furlable, making them easy to protect during periods of intense weather (Gerard 2021). These

have been integrated on several cargo ships, including Energy Observer, a zero-emissions ship as

seen in Figure 3 which was successful for more than two years at sea (Gerard 2021).

Figure 3. Energy

Observer, a zero-emissions

ship with two OceanWings

wingsails.

Source: (Drancey 2021)

The most recent development in OceanWings technology is the commission of Canopée, which

will be the first entirely wind powered modern ship (Gerard 2021). It is dedicated to transporting

the European rocket Ariane and will have four wingsail units integrated into its propulsion

system, fully capable of powering the ship (Gerard 2021). In comparison to the DynaRig sail

configuration, the OceanWings system appears to possess a similar fuel efficiency—ideally,

about 35% of fuel emissions (Chou et al. 2021). The one downfall of soft sails is their durability,

though. To improve on this, rigid sails have been introduced into the world of natural propulsion.

Unlike soft sails, rigid sails are not built out of a single layer of material. Rather, they are

designed with some volume in order to take advantage of Bernoulli’s Principle and provide lift.

They appear similar to the wingsails shown on Energy Observer in Figure 3 but are made out of

solid material instead of soft fabric stretched on a frame. Similar to the OceanWings wingsails,

though, the “propulsive power from the sails…[supplements] power from the main engines,”
7
detracting from the total power needed to propel the vessel and improving its overall fuel

efficiency (Atkinson et al. 2018). As seen in Table 1, ships with rigid sails can reduce their fuel

consumption by usually 10 to 30%, with some vessels even showing savings of up to 60% (Chou

et al. 2021).

Table 1. A review of fuel-saving performance of rigid sails.

Source: (Chou et al. 2021)

Kites have also proven to be a successful method of integrating wind assisted ship

propulsion into vessel propulsion systems. Unlike soft and rigid sails, kites are not actually

located on the deck of a ship. Rather, as seen in Figure 4, they are attached to the bow of a ship

by several towing lines (Petković et al. 2021).

Figure 4. Diagram of a kite towing a cargo ship.

Source: (Petković et al. 2021)

8
The benefits of kites over other methods of wind propulsion lie in their ability to “catch stronger

winds…at higher [altitudes], as well as [the fact that they have] a lower attachment point to the

ship and therefore create a smaller roll heeling moment” (Chou et al. 2021). Kites have already

been installed on a myriad of shipping vessels because of the low amount of deck space they

require to successfully contribute to improving fuel efficiency. Depending on the size of the kite,

different fuel efficiencies have been found on different cargo vessels. This can be seen in Table

2; that being said, average fuel savings seem to lie in the 10-20% range (Chou et al. 2021).

Table 2. A review of fuel-saving performance of kites.

Source: (Chou et al. 2021)

A final promising method of wind assisted ship propulsion are Flettner rotors, which take

advantage of the Magnus Effect to produce forward thrust (Chou et al. 2021). These rotors

appear to be vertical rotating cylinders installed on the deck of a ship; the rotation of the

cylinders works with the wind to create a pressure difference on each side of the cylinder. This

can be utilized to create lift perpendicular to the direction of the wind (Petković et al. 2021).

Although Flettner rotors do require some input energy from electric motors to rotate the

cylinders, these rotors “achieve more fuel savings” than DynaRigs while providing a more

constant power output than the volatile flight of kites (Chou et al. 2021). With this, the

“performance of Flettner-rotors is less sensitive to geographic location and weather conditions”

9
than soft sails, rigid sails, or kites and ends up producing constant fuel savings in the range of

0.4-50%, as seen in Table 3 (Chou et al. 2021).

Table 3. A review of fuel-saving performance of rotors.

Source: (Chou et al. 2021)

Of course, the main consideration of wind assisted ship propulsion is the fact that

constant wind is necessary for effective propulsion. Thus enters the idea of weather routing: the

concept of picking a ship’s route based on the weather systems the ship will encounter. Many

companies have already begun to capitalize on this idea, including Satori (Dupuy 2021). Satori

operates by inputting environmental factors affecting ship behavior and a model of the ship’s

speed into a program; from there, the software works with the operational constraints and

objectives of the ship’s operator to develop a route and propulsion plan that works with the

predicted weather plan to optimize fuel savings (Dupuy 2021). Currently, Satori expects to save

shipping companies between 5 and 10% of fuel costs (Dupuy 2021). Software systems like

Satori will additionally be critical as ship operators transition to using wind assisted ship

propulsion, as different methods of wind propulsion require different wind speeds and angles for

system optimization. “For example, kites produce the largest amount of propulsive power under

10
tailwind, while Flettner-rotors thrive on” winds perpendicular to the ship’s hull (Chou et al.

2021). Wind assisted ship propulsion is already one of the most exciting developments in current

fuel efficiency technology; with further innovation, this method of increasing fuel efficiency

looks to be central to future of the shipping industry.

HULL DESIGN

A final way to approach lowering fuel costs and carbon emissions is by reducing the

resistance of a ship; this can be done during the new-build stage or even during refit by

considering hull optimization, bulbous bows, superstructure refits, and bottom coatings. Ideally,

the hull of a ship is designed for operation in a certain range of speeds and weather conditions;

by considering the waves the ship will be encountering and creating, the resistance of the ship

can be lowered (Kim et al. 2021). Thus, through optimizing the hull design of a ship for a certain

set of known conditions, its fuel efficiency can be increased. However, many ship operators

looking to increase the fuel efficiency of their fleet cannot afford to purchase several new ships

in the name of reducing fuel emissions; thus, they must rely on refitting their old ships in ways

such that the wave-making resistance of the vessel is decreased. Bulbous bows—whether

considered during the initial design phase of a ship or during refit—are an excellent way to

reduce the resistance of a vessel. When a ship cuts through the water, it creates a bow wave that

increases the resistance the vessel encounters; a bulbous bow works by creating a separate wave

system that cancels out the bow wave produced by the ship, therefore lowering resistance and

increasing fuel efficiency (Yin et al. 2021). However, bulbous bows are only designed to operate

at one speed; this is essential to consider because many container ships with bulbous bows were

originally designed to operate at higher speeds (Yin et al. 2021). With recent developments in

fuel efficiency technology demonstrating the cost benefits of operating ships at lower speeds, the

original bulbous bows of these ships become ineffective and require redesign (Yin et al. 2021).
11
However, with tank testing and computational fluid dynamics, redesign of the bulbous bow can

be completed in such a way as not to overly disturb the current hull design of the ship, as seen in

Figure 5 (Yin et al. 2021).

Figure 5. Overlain lines of original and optimized bulbous bows of container ship.

Source: (Yin et al. 2021)

While this investment in the redesign of the ship may seem drastic, it greatly reduces the

resistance of the vessel and increases its fuel efficiency. However, wave-making resistance is not

the only resistance that can be optimized in search of better fuel efficiency. Air resistance,

though it might seem minute, is another form of resistance worth optimizing when considering

the design of a ship and its superstructure.

Over a long period of time, the air resistance associated with the superstructure of a ship

can increase the amount of fuel necessary to power the ship; with this in mind, it is worth

analyzing the aerodynamics of the superstructure and hull form of a ship in order to consider

where it can be streamlined (Eggers 2021). This can be completed during either the initial design

of a ship or later during its life cycle, as can an analysis of the materials of the superstructure.

This latter statement considers the fact that a ship consumes less fuel when it is carrying less

cargo; by “reducing the superstructure weight of…vessels [during refit]…[it] reduces the need

for ballast and reduces fuel costs, which in turn improves [the] competitiveness” of a vessel

12
(Hertzberg & Hedlund-Åström 2010). With current technological improvements in materials

science, older ships can be renovated to reduce the amount of superstructure weight they have to

propel through the water; this improves the fuel efficiency of a ship and reduces the emissions

associated with passages.

A final type of resistance that can be reduced through hull optimization is frictional

resistance—specifically, through using antifouling ship hull coatings. By covering the

submerged part of the hull in an antifouling coating, the hull “has a smooth, slippery, low friction

surface onto which fouling organisms have difficulty attaching. With proved average fuel

savings of 4% and a corresponding reduction in emissions…it is estimated that antifouling

coatings provide the shipping industry with annual fuel savings of US$30 billion and reduced

emissions of 384 million tons and 3.6 million tons respectively for CO 2 and SO2 annually”

(Willsher & Solomon 2010). With less friction beneath the ship, less fuel is required to drive the

vessel through the water and higher fuel efficiency is achieved. Although hull optimization,

bulbous bows, superstructure renovation, and ship hull coatings might not appear as flashy in

comparison to wind assisted ship propulsion, they are just as essential to reducing fuel costs.

CONCLUSION

With fuel costs rapidly rising in the marine sector, it is essential that ship operators

increase the fuel efficiency of their ships if they want to remain competitive in industry.

Concerns in the environmental sector about fuel emissions and global warming also act as

impelling reasons to consider renovating the propulsion system of vessels in shipping. Several

different ways of approaching this problem have been discussed in this paper, including choosing

an alternative fuel source, incorporating wind assisted ship propulsion, and lowering the

resistance of the ship through reevaluating its hull design. All three of these methods currently

offer promising solutions to the marine industry and will initiate an upcoming stage of
13
innovation in shipping; however, of all the proposed techniques, hydrogen fuel cells and wind

assisted propulsion look to be the central propulsion systems of the next era of shipping.

LIST OF REFERENCES

Atkinson, G., Nguyen, H., & Binns, J. (2018). Considerations regarding the use of rigid sails on

modern powered ships. Cogent Engineering, 5(1), 1–20.

https://doi.org/10.1080/23311916.2018.1543564

Balcombe, P., Brierley, J., Lewis, C., Skatvedt, L., Speirs, J., Hawkes, A., & Staffell, I. (2019).

How to decarbonise international shipping: Options for fuels, technologies and policies.

Energy Conversion and Management, 182, 72–88.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enconman.2018.12.080

Chou, T., Kosmas, V., Acciaro, M., & Renken, K. (2021). A Comeback of Wind Power in

Shipping: An Economic and Operational Review on the Wind-Assisted Ship Propulsion

Technology. Sustainability, 13(4), 1–16. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su13041880

Drancey, A. (2021). Energy Observer has arrived in Saint-Malo for the end of its European

Odyssey [Photograph]. Energy Observer Productions.

https://www.energy-observer.org/about/vessel

Dupuy, M. (2021, November 16). Satori, a cutting-edge weather routing system. Natural

Propulsion in Ship Design, Glen Cove, NY.

Dykstra, G. (2021, November 16). Wind technology developments and examples. Natural

Propulsion in Ship Design, Glen Cove, NY.

Eggers, R. (2021, November 16). Steady aerodynamics and hydrodynamics. Natural Propulsion

in Ship Design, Glen Cove, NY.

14
Gerard, L. (2021, November 6). OceanWings wingsails technology. Natural Propulsion in Ship

Design, Glen Cove, NY.

Herdzik, J. (2021). Decarbonization of Marine Fuels—The Future of Shipping. Energies, 14(14),

1–10. https://doi.org/10.3390/en14144311

Hertzberg, T., & Hedlund-Åström, A. (2010). The Composite Superstructure Concept. Ship

Design and Operation for Environmental Sustainability (pp. 17–25). The Royal

Institution of Naval Architects.

Jafarzadeh, S., & Schjølberg, I. (2018). Operational profiles of ships in Norwegian waters: An

activity-based approach to assess the benefits of hybrid and electric propulsion.

Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment, 65, 500–523.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trd.2018.09.021

Kim, B.-S., Oh, M.-J., Lee, J.-H., Kim, Y.-H., & Roh, M.-I. (2021). Study on Hull Optimization

Process Considering Operational Efficiency in Waves. Processes, 9(5), 1–21.

http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/pr9050898

Petković, M., Zubčić, M., Krčum, M., & Pavić, I. (2021). Wind Assisted Ship Propulsion

Technologies – Can they Help in Emissions Reduction? Nase More, 68(2), 102–109.

http://dx.doi.org/10.17818/NM/2021/2.6

Willsher, J. D., & Solomon, T. (2010). Operational and Environmental Benefits of Foul Release

Coatings. Ship Design and Operation for Environmental Sustainability (pp. 51–54). The

Royal Institution of Naval Architects.

Yin, X., Huang, L., Lu, Y., Zou, J., & Wan, L. (2021). Experimental Investigation on Resistance

Reduction for Multiple Service Conditions of Container Ship Bulbous Bow Optimization.

Journal of Coastal Research, 37(3), 634–643. http://dx.doi.org/10.2112/JCOASTRES-D-

20-00077.1
15
16
17