A global provider of auxiliary renewable wind propulsion systems, Norsepower Oy and market leader in green ferry operation, Scanlines today announced the successful installation of Norsepower’s Rotor Sail Solution.

According to Fathom.World, the installation was completed in just hours during a scheduled overnight stop on board the Scandlines’ hybrid ferry M/V Copenhagen.

The M/V Copenhagen, a hybrid passenger ferry operating between Rostock, Germany and Gedser, Denmark, was retrofitted with a Norsepower Rotor Sail unit measuring 30m in height and 5m in diameter. The installation was completed in a matter of hours, following meticulous preparation over the past few months.

The Norsepower Rotor Sail Solution – which can be installed on new vessels or retrofitted on existing ships – is a modernised version of the Flettner rotor, a spinning cylinder that uses the Magnus effect to harness wind power to thrust a ship.

(See Afloat's story & photos of cargoship E-Ship 1 then a newbuild also fitted with rotor sails first called to Dublin Port in August 2010 and was repeated that summer).

The installation, the fourth successfully completed by Norsepower, is estimated to reduce emissions by an estimated 4-5% on average without compromising pre-retrofit speed and voyage times.

For further reading on this ferry development click here.