On its ambitious path to become carbon neutral by the middle of this decade, Berge Bulk is looking to scale up the use of solar power at sea.
The Singaporean dry bulk venture led by James Marshall has recently launched a pilot test on its 262,583 dwt ore carrier, Berge K2, to trial the maritime application of solar technology.
This test installation produces around 100 kilowatts of electrical power, which is fed into the main electrical grid on the ship to supplement the ship’s diesel alternators.
Through the test, Berge Bulk is observing and assessing how the panels withstand the stresses while at sea and during in-port cargo operations.
Following the pilot, the company plans to evolve the trial to a 1,000 kilowatts installation.
Berge Bulk is far ahead of most shipping companies in terms of its pledge to go green having set a commitment to become carbon neutral by 2025 at the latest.
Starting this year, the company is offering clients an option for carbon neutral cargo delivery via offsets.
We can thank Berge Bulk for the illustration, which shows the scale of the challenge.
We see solar panels mounted on the side deck of a good sized b/60 ore carrier so that they are very sensibly protected by the side rolling hatch cover from whatever the grabs might drop on them.
Of course, the weather deck of a b/60 bulker never gets the top of a sea on it.