Hapag-Lloyd studies wind propulsion for boxships

German carrier Hapag-Lloyd has been studying wind propulsion options for newbuilds.

The Hamburg-headquartered liner has unveiled a newbuilding concept design of a ship with a capacity of 4,500 teu featuring eight sails with a total sail area of 3,000 sq m. The six rear sails are extendable, and the two front ones retractable. According to the team behind the design, this helps to not hinder cargo operations in port and to protect the sail system from damage as well as to avoid any limitations such as bridges.

Hapag-Lloyd aims to finish the concept study in the next few months.

To date, wind propulsion investment has tended to focus on bulk carriers where there is more open deck space.