Scandlines installs Norsepower sail on hybrid ferry

Copenhagen-based ferry company, Scandlines, has installed a 30m-high Rotor Sail from Norsepower on the 169.5m-long ferry, Berlin, which has 1,600 lane-metres of capacity and space for 1,300 passengers. The Rotor Sail was installed during a routine call in Rostock.

Deployed on the route between the German port and Gedser in Denmark, Berlin will benefit from additional thrust from the wind by between 4% and 20%, the company said, depending on wind direction and strength. The additional power will enable the ferry’s main engines to run at lower loads, thereby saving fuel and cutting emissions.

Speaking immediately after the retrofit, Scandlines COO, Michael Guldmann Petersen, said: “After positive experiences with the Rotor Sail on the hybrid ferry Copenhagen, Scandlines had prepared the sister ferry Berlin for a Rotor Sail as well. We are happy to see that the installation was successfully completed and that the ferry went into operation again this morning as planned.”

Norsepower CEO, Tuomas Riski, commented: “Scandlines is taking the international greenhouse gas emissions reductions targets extremely seriously and is demonstrating a leading approach to investing in innovation to supersede these. Expanding its use of our Rotor Sail technology on its second vessel highlights the viability of wind power, and the significance of the emissions savings which can be achieved.”