A maritime engineering company has finally sailed its eco-friendly cargo vessel in a bid to decarbonize cargo vessels by up to 30%. BAR Technologies announced the sailing of the ship following a 3-year wait after plans were first unveiled. The ship is the result of BAR's collaboration with Cargill, Mitsubishi Corporation, and Yara Marine Technologies. The Pyxix Ocean ship's maiden voyage sailed 3,500 miles from Shanghai to Singapore after they retrofitted an old ship with a new wing innovation. Dubbed “WindWings" the foldable steel and fiberglass sails standing at approximately 123 feet in height were fitted to the deck of the cargo ship to harness the power of wind. While the WindWings addition is novel, the Pyxix Ocean ship has been functioning as a regular cargo ship since being built by Mitsubishi in 2017. The WindWings were installed on the 6-year-old ship at a Chinese shipyard. Much like ships of previous centuries, the sails harness wind for propulsion, but BAR's modern counterpart has been specifically designed for efficiency. Yara Marine Technologies says they expect to generate an average fuel savings of 30% on new build vessels, which are to be used in commercial shipping. It is hoped that the wind power will reduce the complete reliance on diesel-powered engines, slashing the amount of pollutants produced.
