Norsepower Rotor Sails™️ installed on Oceanus Aurora as part of IINO Lines and Borealis support of environmentally sustainable shipping

Wind propulsion leader Norsepower and esteemed shipping company IINO Kaiun Kaisha, Ltd. (IINO LINES) have completed the installation of two Norsepower Rotor Sails™️ (NPRS) on the Oceanus Aurora, a Very Large Gas Carrier (VLGC) chartered by Borealis, a leading provider of advanced and sustainable polyolefins solutions. In Europe, Borealis is also an innovative leader in polyolefins recycling and a major producer of base chemicals.

The VLGC Oceanus Aurora has been outfitted with two custom designed NPRS™️. These units, measuring 20m tall and 4m in diameter, have been tailored to meet the vessel’s precise air draught limits.

The Norsepower Rotor Sail™️ is a modernized version of the Flettner rotor. Utilizing a small amount of electricity to spin cylindrical sails on the deck, the NPRS harnesses wind and the Magnus effect to generate powerful thrust. This innovative product bolsters the main propulsion, resulting in reduced fuel consumption, emissions, and fuel costs.

Oceanus Aurora sails between Houston, USA and Stenungsund, Sweden or Porvoo, Finland. Norsepower calculates that the NPRS will reduce the vessel’s fuel consumption and CO₂ emissions by approximately 4%, aligning with international emissions reduction targets, including the Carbon Intensity Indicator (CII), and mitigating rising fuel costs.

“Minimizing the environmental footprint of our transportation activities is vital to our Energy & Climate strategy” said Thomas Van De Velde, Borealis Senior Vice President Base Chemicals and Energy. “The innovative Norsepower Rotor Sails™️ on the Oceanus Aurora vessel will help us achieve our ambitious emission reduction targets and thus support the transformation towards more environmentally sustainable transportation.”

Seiichi Fujimura, Director, Executive Officer of IINO Lines, remarked: “Investing in sustainable vessels is paramount to our commitment to environmental stewardship. Partnering with Norsepower and Borealis allows us to integrate promising technologies into our operations, bolstering our efforts towards decarbonization.”

Heikki Pöntynen, CEO of Norsepower, emphasized: “Our most recent installations underscore the shipping industry’s proactive approach to sustainability. The solid real-life performance data from our 27 NPRS™️ units in operation demonstrates tangible reductions in both fuel costs and emissions. With this third delivery and installation contract for a gas carrier, we are honoured to support IINO Lines and Borealis in their pursuit of environmental and commercial excellence.”

The Oceanus Aurora, a dual fuel LPG ship, was delivered in March 2023 from Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co., Ltd in Korea (today, Hanwha Ocean Co., Ltd.), with the foundations for the Norsepower Rotor Sails™️ already in place. The installation of the units took place in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, at the beginning of November 2024.


Source: Norsepower