Ocean Sailing Unmanned Energy Replenishment SailSip Deployed: Cargo Ships Receive Wind Power at Sea

SailSip, jointly released by the Norwegian University of Science and Technology Department of Maritime Studies and shipping company SailRoute, is a system that lets ocean-going cargo ships receive power from unmanned wind power vessels while underway. The system consists of a cargo ship, unmanned wind power vessels, and an automatic docking device, and can continuously replenish wind power for the main cargo ship during ocean voyages, avoiding delays caused by port-side charging.

The core of SailSip is the dynamic docking technology. The unmanned wind power vessel is equipped with retractable cables and a flexible pantograph, capable of maintaining relative position with the main cargo ship and completing power transmission in 3-meter waves and Beaufort 6 winds. The unmanned wind power vessel itself is equipped with rigid wing sails, which can continuously capture wind energy for power generation while underway. Multiple unmanned wind power vessels can form an energy supply fleet that accompanies the cargo ship.

The first application was on the North Sea route from Norway to the Netherlands. SailRoute retrofitted an 80,000-ton general cargo ship for the pilot, accompanied by two unmanned wind power vessels. During the six-month trial operation, wind power received by the main cargo ship through SailSip accounted for 38 percent of its total energy consumption, equivalent to an annual reduction of about 12,000 tons of diesel consumption and 38,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions. Professor Ingrid Schjølberg of the NTNU Department of Maritime Studies said this system is one of the key pathways for decarbonizing ocean shipping.