Vale lines up world’s largest ore carrier for rotor sails treatment

Brazilian mining giant Vale has signed up the world’s largest ore carrier for wind-assisted propulsion.

The 2012-built 400,000 dwt valemax Sohar Max, owned by Oman’s Asyad and on a long-term charter with Vale, will be fitted with five 35-m-tall rotor sails from British supplier Anemoi Marine Technologies.

The cylindrical sails will be installed on Anemoi’s folding deployment system, whereby the sails can be folded from vertical to mitigate impact on air draught and cargo handling operations. 

The retrofit project, classed by Lloyd Register, should be completed in the second quarter of 2024 and is expected to bring fuel savings of 6% and cut CO2 equivalent emissions by up to 3,000 tons per ship per year.

Anemoi has been developing solutions for Vale’s vessels for several years. In June last year, Singapore-based owner Berge Bulk signed up the 2012-built 388,000 dwt valemax Berge Neblina for four folding rotor sails. 

Vale had also previously tapped Finnish marine wind propulsion system maker Norsepower to install five 25-m-high rotor sails onboard Pan Ocean’s 325,000 dwt very large ore carrier Sea Zhoushan in 2021. In March this year, the miner teamed up with Japan’s Mitsui OSK Lines (MOL) to retrofit a pair of 200,000 dwt bulkers to add more Norsepower rotor sails. The installation is expected in the first half of 2024.

“Wind energy will play a central role in our strategy to decarbonise the maritime transportation of iron ore,” said Rodrigo Bermelho Vale’s shipping technical manager.

Other global miners are also tapping into wind power to reduce their overall emissions. Global miner BHP has linked up with Pan Pacific Copper (PPC), a member of the JX Nippon Mining & Metals group for a retrofit installation of Norsepower’s rotor sail system onboard the 2013-built combination carrier Koryu, operated by Nippon Marine.