Sea trials for 'world-first' Glasgow-made wing sail ship

The lightweight, retrofit, recyclable FastRig is built in Glasgow and has been installed on the Pacific Grebe for the trials.

The ship has now docked in Greenock to allow project partners, the Scottish Government, ship owners and financiers the opportunity to see the technology in action.

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Previously FastRig underwent five months of land-based trials at Hunterston in North Ayrshire that proved the robustness of the engineering. 

The sea trials of FastRig will conclude in November. The purpose of the sea trials is to corroborate lab-based modelling by the University of Southampton that predicted fuel and greenhouse gas savings with FastRig installed of up to 30% per year on transatlantic routes.

The independently verified performance data will allow Smart Green Shipping to predict cost savings with FastRig technology on any suitable ship, on any route, and provide the market with evidence-based decision-making tools.

FastRig is entirely manufactured in Scotland. Smart Green Shipping works in collaboration with Scottish engineering companies 360Energy (formerly Caley Ocean Group) and Malin Group,  combining proven technologies from renewables, oil and gas, and marine engineering in new ways building on Scottish expertise to develop a new global export market.

Smart Green Shipping has received investment from Scottish Enterprise, co-investing alongside one of the world’s leading shipping companies, MOL Drybulk, and won a £1.8 million research and development grant. Last week, the company announced a £1m cash injection from the renewable energy company Drax.

The Department for Transport estimates that up to 40,000 ships worldwide are suitable for wind-powered propulsion.

The sea trials follow a period of testing on land (Image: Smart Green Shipping) According to Lloyds Register, the uptake of wind-assist technology to decarbonise global shipping is at a tipping point. Smart Green Shipping will begin its first commercial installations on vessels in 2025.

Anas Sarwar, leader of Scottish Labour, said: "Global shipping emits around 3% of total greenhouse gas emissions, that is more than countries like Germany or Brazil and emissions from the sector are still rising. This is a global export opportunity for Scotland that will enable a hard-to-decarbonise sector to deploy powerful, close-to-market technology that saves money and fuel costs. This will create good green jobs and wealth for Scotland."

Diane Gilpin, chief executive of Smart Green Shipping, said: "At Smart Green Shipping we understand that the world is at a critical climate juncture and we must play our role in driving down emissions in shipping. It’s imperative that we shift from a conventional fuel-dominated business-as-usual approach and embrace this abundantly available direct energy source.

"Wind-assist solutions are key to reducing shipping emissions in line with science. Scotland has been an integral part of our journey to develop Smart Green Shipping’s technology and we will continue to collaborate with its high-quality manufacturing and engineering expertise as we go to scale production."

Barbara McIntyre, engineering and operations director, Three60 Energy said: "Three60 Energy have more than 50 years of experience developing mechanical handling solutions with our in-house engineering team.

"This expertise positions us perfectly to support Smart Green Shipping’s mission to create robust, affordable FastRigs that we can roll-out rapidly into the global fleet to reduce fuel cost and emissions. We have a wealth of experience developing simple solutions to complex challenges, bringing products to market, ensuring cost-effective, robust and reliable design for manufacture. By integrating strongly with our supply chain, we design in manufacturability and select components for long service life."