In another major step towards bringing rigid sails onto powered ships, Eco Marine Power (EMP) announced today that it has signed a patent license agreement with Teramoto Iron Works Ltd concerning patents related to EMP’s EnergySail® and Aquarius MRE® technologies.
Teramoto Iron Works is one of the few companies in the world that has experience in the production of rigid sails and was involved in the manufacture of JAMDA sails in Japan in the 1980’s. Teramoto Iron Works was selected to manufacture the first product version of EMP’s EnergySail in 2016 and this latest agreement with EMP paves the way to full commercial production once sea trials have been completed.
The patented EnergySail is an automated rigid sail device that enables ships to utilize the power of the wind to reduce fuel consumption and lower vessel emissions. It can also be fitted with flexible marine-grade solar panels or other devices and used to charge batteries or the electrical power fed into a ships power system. Alternatively an EnergySail array can be incorporated into EMP’s Aquarius MRE (Marine Renewable Energy) solution.
Commenting on this latest agreement with EMP, Mr. Yoshitaka Teramoto, President of Teramoto Iron Works stated, “I am proud that our company is at the forefront of bringing the EnergySail towards commercial production and that we are able to demonstrate again, our ability to manufacture high quality and specialized solutions for shipping.”
Greg Atkinson, Chief Technology Officer at Eco Marine Power added, “There are very few companies in the world that have an established track record in manufacturing large sails for powered ships, so I’m extremely pleased that EMP has been able to expand our relationship with Teramoto Iron Works.”
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Source: Eco Marine Power
