In another significant step towards bringing rigid sails onto powered ships, Eco Marine Power (EMP) (www.ecomarinepower.com) — based in Fukuoka, Japan — recently announced that it has signed a patent licence agreement with Teramoto Iron Works Ltd (TIW) regarding EMP’s Energy Sail and Aquarius MRE technologies.

TIW is one of the few companies in the world that has experience in the production of rigid sails, and it was involved in the manufacture of JAMDA (Japan Machinery Development Association) sails in Japan in the 1980s.

The company was selected to manufacture the first production version of EMP’s Energy Sail in 2016, and this latest agreement with EMP paves the way to full commercial production, once sea trials have been completed.

The patented Energy Sail is an ‘automated rigid sail’ that enables ships to use the power of the wind to reduce fuel consumption and lower vessel emissions.

It can also be fitted with flexible marine-grade solar panels or other devices and used to charge batteries or to feed electricity into a ship’s power system.

Commenting on this latest agreement with EMP, TIW president Yoshitaka Teramoto said: “I am proud that our company is at the forefront of bringing the Energy Sail towards commercial production and that we are able to demonstrate — again — our ability to manufacture high-quality and specialised solutions for shipping.”