30th Week Topic: Ship Sails

On July 22, 2025, market reports indicated that British shipowner Union Maritime had installed sail systems on two new LR2 oil tankers to reduce fuel consumption. The company is an active promoter of sail technology and continues to add wind propulsion retrofit projects to its fleet.

On July 10, 2025, market information indicated that German shipowner HGK Shipping, in collaboration with chemical company Covestro, installed a wind-assisted propulsion system on the chemical tanker "Amadeus Titanium", aiming to provide sustainable and green shipping services for short-haul routes in Europe. The agreement is valid until 2040. Meanwhile, German shipowner Reederei Bernd Sibum received funding from the German government's NaMKu program to retrofit four 3,850 DWT general cargo ships built in China with the same wind-assisted propulsion system. It is expected that this will reduce fuel consumption by 12.5% and integrate comprehensive green technologies such as biofuels, battery hybrid propulsion, and waste heat recovery.

The current application of sail technology in the field of ship emission reduction holds great promise. Firstly, its technology is mature and costs have decreased, allowing sail systems to be commercially applied in the shipping industry. The modular design makes it easy to integrate into new ships or retrofit old ones. Additionally, the support from policies and financial institutions in various countries has accelerated the implementation of sail technology in the shipping sector. Lastly, the energy-saving benefits of sail technology are significant. Sails can assist the main propulsion system and reduce fuel consumption by 10% to 15%.

However, the application of sail technology on ships also has obvious limitations. The most important one is that the energy-saving effect of sails depends on natural conditions. The efficiency of sails is restricted by wind speed and course, and their effect weakens in windless or headwind sections, thus requiring the support of traditional power systems. Secondly, the modification cost and the weight of sails cause ships to lose some cargo capacity, which deters shipowners. Additionally, there is the issue of the adaptability of sail technology to ships. Large container ships or high-speed vessels cannot rely entirely on sails. The deck space and structural strength also pose challenges.

As an auxiliary power source for ships, wind sail technology is an important supplement to the ship's petrochemical fuel rather than a major alternative. If combined with artificial intelligence (optimizing the angle of the wind sail/ship route), new materials (lightweight rigid sails), and more efficient energy storage technologies, the contribution rate of wind sails may further increase.

The International Maritime Organization (IMO) requires that carbon emissions from shipping be halved by 2050. Sails will work together with ammonia/hydrogen fuel, battery propulsion, and other technologies to form a diversified decarbonization solution. Sailing technology has moved from concept to practice and has demonstrated economic and environmental benefits in specific routes and vessel types. In the future, its role will be as a "load reducer" for traditional fuels rather than a replacement. It needs to work in synergy with other clean energy technologies to drive the shipping industry towards deep decarbonization. Policy support, technological iteration, and cross-industry cooperation (such as alliances among shipowners, cargo owners, and shipyards) will be key to large-scale application.

31st Week Topic: AI Is Playing an Increasingly Important Role in Maritime Shipping

Global shipping groups are increasingly enthusiastic about the application of artificial intelligence in their daily operations, providing end-to-end solutions for the shipping industry through AI and digital technologies to address the changes, new regulations and technological challenges in the shipping sector.

The core technologies of artificial intelligence are to apply big data analysis, machine learning, and predictive technologies to revolutionize fleet management, application experience, voyage optimization, and sustainable compliance and regulation.

Global modern shipping enterprises follow the increasingly strict green requirements of the IMO organization, focusing on addressing compliance needs for decarbonization (such as CII and the EU ETS), and provide a full process from data integration to decision-making.

Enhance operational efficiency, safety standards and environmental responsibility through AI-driven solutions, covering commercial shipping, maritime management and global logistics.

The future application prospects of artificial intelligence in maritime transportation will gradually expand, covering intelligent management for carbon reduction of ships; intelligent management for the safety of shipping routes; intelligent management for the operational efficiency of maritime transportation; intelligent assistance and upgrading for navigation safety; and so on.

The IMO 2050 carbon reduction target and the EU ETS carbon tax are driving the industry's transformation. AI real-time monitoring of emissions, optimizing fuel usage, and automatically generating compliance reports can reduce the risk of non-compliance, such as CII ratings and dynamic predictive management.

Artificial intelligence, in combination with camera feeds, AIS real-time vessel data, radar data, etc., enables collision risk warnings and obstacle avoidance; intelligent route planning and optimization, etc. Machine learning analyzes historical data to predict mechanical failures or adverse weather risks in advance.

By integrating shipping big data, artificial intelligence combines data on port congestion, weather, and fuel prices to dynamically adjust ship speeds and berth plans, effectively enhancing the operational efficiency of vessels.

Artificial intelligence and big data analysis are used to identify the behavioral preferences of cruise passengers, categorize different groups, and customize routes and corresponding dining recommendations accordingly.

Artificial intelligence combined with big data simulates the performance of ship hulls; optimizes the loss of propulsion systems; and finds the best match of ship hulls and power combinations for different routes and different ships.

Artificial intelligence can also play a role in crew training, for instance, by using VR combined with AI to build emergency scenario simulators and enhance crew members' emergency response capabilities.

Approximately 90% of global trade relies on maritime transportation, and there is a widespread demand for artificial intelligence to reduce costs and increase efficiency. Regulations for green and decarbonized shipping have given rise to technological dividends. In the future, artificial intelligence will deeply restructure the operational logic of the maritime industry, shifting from passive compliance to active optimization. The core value lies in cost reduction, carbon emission reduction, and efficiency improvement.