Cargo Ship Propelled by… A Kite?
Last week the MS Beluga Skysails launched from Bremerhaven, Germany on a trip across the Atlantic Ocean. Upon its arrival, the locals in Venezuela noticed that something was amiss. The 140 meter long cargo ship was being pulled across the water by a giant kite. But then again, a new free/green secondary propulsion system would alarm even the most salted of sea dogs.
Even though it’s not completely relying on the kite as its main source of propulsion it is estimated to reduce fuel costs by 10 – 35%, which in turn means less carbon emissions. The kite itself is shaped like an aircraft wing and it is able to adjust with diffrent air conditions.
Operating range for the kite is about 100m – 300m above the surface. Higher altitudes have stronger winds that also remain stable and consistent. It can be flown in a variety of wind conditions and has the ability to be positioned in other areas around the ship to maximize efficiencies.
I’ve been power kiting for a little less than a year now, so naturally I wanted some specs on this massive kite. To give you an idea, I’m 6′3″ at 190lbs and a 5.5 meter power kite can lift me plain off the ground on a windy day. That ship weighs a slight bit more; to compensate they’ll be using a kite that is a massive 160sqm in size.
A kite that size, in the right weather, would have the ability to pull over 200 people directly into the clouds without blinking. Now that’s power.
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Music Site said
am January 30 2008 @ 7:50 am
That’s wonderful, I never heard about it before but it is fantastic, so it is used to reduce feul consumption or to move the ship or for both? and what about the weather condition, I am sure it is highly affected by it, right?
Thank you,
Regards.
Jerad Kaliher said
am January 31 2008 @ 10:54 pm
@Music Site, at this point it’s used primarily to reduce fuel consumption. And weather conditions do need to be right in order to maintain the proper lift needed. Although you’d be surprised at the minuscule amounts of wind actually needed to lift a lightweight kite like this.
Paul said
am February 12 2008 @ 3:40 pm
Now that is impressive.
I would never have thought a kite would have any practible benefit on a tanker that size.
Footprintfriends said
am December 31 2008 @ 2:06 am
This is fantastic! is it in operational use yet or just as a prototype?
I used to kite surf but it was a bit TOO scary for me – I hear that kites are a lot more controllable now and easier to dump the power – wind surfing is my passion.
If you want to see how powerful a kite can be type “Crazy jump in Kitesurf” into youtube.
Its not my video and is very relevant to this blog.
Diane said
am January 4 2009 @ 2:03 am
It wouldn’t work on cars though! It looks a very interesting idea and if fuel savings are big enough then it could become really important.
And that is one crazy kite flight on utube!
lennon said
am January 8 2009 @ 12:07 pm
its a great idea, my question isn’t how much wind would it take to lift and move the kite, but how much would be necessary to move the ship?
Elizabeth said
am January 19 2009 @ 2:32 pm
wait… wind powered ships?!!? I’ve never heard of THAT before!!!
Brainjack said
am February 8 2009 @ 3:49 pm
Great technology. Now with all that extra shipping capacity, the world can continue to overburden the few remaining resources we have. Our greatgrandchildren will be at odds with basic nourishments like water. Good job reckless techies!
Gabriel Gadfly said
am February 28 2009 @ 9:19 am
I love this idea. It’s taking an old idea (the sail boat) and upgrading it with modern technology.
shran said
am March 1 2009 @ 7:26 am
Wind can be used in many applications and as Kite-buggier I know it can generate ___LOTS___ of power.
As long as there is wind it’s not difficult to pull a ship like this or even much larger ships. At low wind speed one can use a big kite to “harvest” the energy, at high wind speed a littler kite should be used.
One can also pull cars with kites (a buggy is some sort of car…), but roads aren’t designed to sail on. The kites are more or less used as a sail and Kite-boats/cars behave as such.
In order to sail one needs quite some space in all directions. There’s too little space on the left and right side of a road. A desert or large beach would be more suitable.
B.T.W. If you really want to see something spectacular, search for “Ice sailing” on You-tube, these vehicles reach speeds up to 160 MPH.
Roland said
am June 11 2009 @ 4:30 pm
I don’t know…Those Illustrations look Photoshop’d.
The whole sail thing is a bit odd for me. Perhaps a giant pinwheel attached to a mast sending power to electric engines to assist propulsion would be more reasonable than kite power. The Ships forward movement would help that one. Collapsible or retractable.
Oscar said
am June 14 2009 @ 3:48 pm
this shows us that small things can make the Difference
which now can save us millions of dollars keep it up!!
mark said
am July 18 2009 @ 1:57 am
very cool,I think I will try something with a skatebourrd
dave said
am July 28 2009 @ 6:21 am
What sort of cable is used to hold/control the kite? A steel cable will be strong enough but may be too heavy for normal wind use. Is it steerable? Does the ship need to ‘tack’ into the wind? If so does the kite fall whilst tacking?
Are there control surfaces on the wing?
Just a few of the questions that need answering…
Henchbot said
am August 8 2009 @ 6:52 pm
epic.
Terri said
am May 23 2010 @ 7:54 am
Seems like they are reinventing the wheel. Why not have sails to augment the engines? A kite seems too hard to control, but sails have been working for thousands of years.
anon said
am January 13 2011 @ 7:55 pm
ok, clearly this system is only useful in mostly tailwinds, I imagine it wouldn’t take much sidevector to negate the forward pull advantage by having to steer hard to stay on course.
There would be some control measures on the kite, although limited to some fairly minor steer and lift adjustments.
Depending on the size of the kite, if it’s capable of pulling hard enought to require a steel cable, then the weight of the steel is negligible to the benefit you’re getting.
The ship’s forward movement would not benefit an electric drive turbine system, efficiency losses would mean it’s being slowed down more than it’s getting pushed, including from side wind load. You don’t get energy for free; if you’re being blown off course, you need to steer back, slowing you down. if that effect is strong enough, you’re better off pulling in your sails and steaming onward conventionally.
Sails are not simple to operate, it is an art form to properly use sails to a good efficiency. Remember the puny sailships and their vast crews, limited cargo, and laborious loading and unloading. Sails are complicated, labour heavy and get in the way. There are certainly wonderful hybrid possibilities from compact, retractable wind and solar power systems on ships, but they will not compare to the efficiency of a liquid combustible power source. Now, algae based biofuel would be a key part of a manageable solution.
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