British rotor sail designer Anemoi gears up for growth
- UK-based Anemoi Marine Technologies is targeting production capacity of 200 rotor sails per year by 2027
- Aftersales expected to become a significant part of the business case for sail assistance systems
- Government’s Clean Maritime Demonstration Competition funding has made UK more attractive for maritime technology start-ups
Increasing emissions regulations are making the business case for rotor sails more compelling
BRITISH rotor sail supplier Anemoi Marine Technologies is set to expand as increasing emissions regulations prove the business case for its rotor sail technology.
London-headquartered Anemoi deployed its first set of sails, with four rail-mounted rotor sails, in 2018 aboard the ultramax bulk carrier newbuilding Afros (IMO: 9746803) for Greek shipowner Blue Planet Shipping.
Since then, it has completed installation of 12 rotor sails on board two very large ore carriers and one kamsarmax bulker via retrofits undertaken during scheduled drydocking in China. A further seven bulkers comprising one ultramax, one newcastlemax, two VLOCs and three handysize ships are booked to be fitted with Anemoi sails.
The company is now the second-largest provider of rotor sails after Finland’s Norsepower and can count leading dry cargo vessel operators Berge Bulk and U-Ming as clients.
Anemoi chief production and partnerships officer Nick Contopoulos said the company would continue to service its key large bulk carrier segment. However, it is now set to grow its business to cover the smaller dry cargo segment and the product tanker sector, in particular for medium-range tankers and long range one vessels.
“Our strategy is for larger ships that require several sails on board. Multiple sails of the same design make projects more efficient but we are now also targeting orders for smaller ships with our new products being launched,” said Contopoulos.
While rotor sails themselves are not new technology — the first were deployed in the 1920s — Anemoi’s unique selling point is its folding or rail mounted deployment systems which ensure the sails can be moved out of the way during cargo operations. Modern rotor sails are produced from advanced composite materials and semi-automated processes.
“Our deployment systems were developed over a long period but were first tested at full scale in 2014. We were the first in the market to have this deployment technology on a rotor sail,” Contopoulos told Lloyd’s List.
The deployment systems utilise hydraulic systems provided with electrical power from the vessel’s anchor windlasses, which are not used during port operations.
While similar deployment systems have since been introduced by competitors, Contopoulos believes Anemoi has a good lead over other sail providers.
There are now understood to be some 50 companies marketing wind assistance systems, however few have yet to deliver a single sail.
A key factor to convince, often conservative, shipowners to undertake the considerable investment in sails are long-term service agreements.
Contopoulos said that while most rotor sails had only been fitted in recent years, servicing and performance reporting of sail systems will become increasingly important for shipowners expecting a 15- to 25-year lifespan.
“The service sector is still evolving but is expected to be huge in the future although shipowners expect to have as little maintenance as possible.
“After sales are going to become very important and shipowners will expect to budget for this in the business case for wind assistance,” said Contopoulos, who added that expanding a spare parts network and providing service engineers was part of Anemoi’s strategy.
The company has been developing its rotor sail systems for the LNG carrier segment in a joint project that commenced in late-2023 with Hudong Zhonghua, together with class societies and shipowners.
More recently it has been involved in a project with two Chinese shipyards for the medium-range tanker and LR1 product tanker sectors.
Contopoulos added that as emissions regulations, especially Fuel EU and EU ETS, made the business case for sail assistance even more compelling and more shipowners had become interested in rotor sails, in particular from the product tanker segment.
He said as sail production ramped up then the cost of the sails, which can be upwards of $1m each for Anemoi’s largest sails fitted to VLOCs, would decrease. Meanwhile, there was a trend emerging of big shipowners coming to the market for rotor sails for multiple vessels, especially for newbuildings.
With its headquarters in the UK, Anemoi has been able to benefit from the government’s Clean Maritime Demonstration Competition funding. Most research and development, and testing, is undertaken at sites across the UK, including Anemoi’s own test facility in Blyth, Northumberland.
“The UK is a good place to establish a business in shipping technology and we’ve been successful in winning CMDC grant funds which have helped us to develop our product portfolio and to grow to the next level,” said Contopoulos.
Anemoi’s supply chain includes UK-based manufacturers for some of the critical subsystems while it partners with a Chinese state-owned high-speed rail supplier on some of its R&D and industrialisation plan.
One of China’s largest manufacturers of wind turbines manufactures Anemoi’s composite rotor sails. With production now well established, Anemoi is gearing up for production capacity of 200 rotor sails per year with a target to reach this by 2027.
