Japanese finance and trading house Orix Corporation has teamed with compatriot Sumitomo Heavy Industries to study the use of soft sails on one of its bulk carriers.
The feasibility study will utilise wing-shaped soft sails manufactured by North Sails Japan. The sails are made of polyethylene fibre fabric, and are 8 m high and 13.2 m wide and add to the wide list of wind tech shipowners can now choose from.
Kites, rotors, hard and soft sails – shipowners seeking wind-assist technology have never had so many options as today, with a record number of wind tech installations on the cards in 2024.