An LNG-fueled cruise ferry operated by Finnish shipping company Viking Line is to be retrofitted with a Rotor Sail Solution from Norsepower Oy Ltd., a provider of auxiliary wind propulsion systems.

Illustration of Viking Grace with one vertical Norsepower Rotor Sail.The 57,565 GT M/S Viking Grace, currently operating in the archipelago between Turku (Finland) and Stockholm, will be equipped with one medium-sized Norsepower Rotor Sail unit that is 24 m in height and 4 m in diameter.

The installation is scheduled for the second quarter of 2018, and will convert the ferry into one of the first LNG/wind electric propulsion hybrid ships. The retrofit is expected to reduce fuel burn and fuel costs, as well as reduce carbon emissions by about 900 tons annually.

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

The solution is automated and senses whenever the wind is strong enough to deliver fuel savings, at which point the rotors start automatically.