Port of Longview welcomes 'green' vessel

The Port of Longview, USA, has honored the German marine vessel ‘Beluga SkySails' and its crew for their environmentally innovative transportation solutions.

The vessel, which uses a large wind sail at sea to decrease environmental impacts, has delivered wind energy cargo to the port. "Often times we must take a step back and review methods that have worked in history to make progress in the future," said Port of Longview's Director of Marketing Valerie Harris. "We think ‘Beluga' has captured the essence of this by using the wind to assist with ocean navigation." The first vessel to use the SkySails propulsion system, the ‘Beluga Skysails' boasts a towing kite of 160 square meters. The utilization of wind decreases the vessel's bunker consumption 10 to 15 percent and provides relief to the main engine. The size of the towing kite is expected to increase to 320 square meters in the near future. The vessel arrived with wind energy cargo aboard, creating a combination of green energy and transportation. The Acciona wind energy cargo shipped from Spain and will be delivered to a project site in Montana.

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