By Makereta Komai, PACNEWS Editor in Milan, Italy
One of the world’s ground-breaking low carbon sailing cargo ship, the SV Juren Ae, is now operating in the Republic of Marshall Islands, after the government took delivery of the vessel in July last year.
Built under Korean Register class in South Korea, this innovative vessel marks a significant milestone in sustainable maritime transport.
“It’s a 48-metre 400 tonne sailing cargo vessel that utilises the two cleanest energy sources – wind and solar and its 80 percent efficient. That means that we don’t have to spend 80 percent on fuel – just wind and solar, said Marshall Islands Resident Ambassador in South Korea, Albon Ishoda.
Speaking to PACNEWS in Milan at one of the side events to launch the Asian Development Bank’s sustainable resilient maritime fund, Ambassador Ishoda said the low carbon sailing vessel is the first of its kind in the Pacific.
“We also recognise that for countries like the Marshall Islands we don’t have the economy of scale for maritime transportation to be picked up by the private sector. They won’t make money, so it falls on the government to be able to have to connect the remote communities.
“What that means is that we have to depend on cargo vessels that are heavily dependent on dirty fuels. That in itself gave us only a limited opportunity to go to these outer islands or remote communities which in our case was once every quarter because it costs money to operate a vessel, explained Ishoda, who is also the special envoy of the RMI President on maritime decarbonisation.
Ambassador Ishoda said there are plans build more vessels for other Pacific countries – particularly the nice active members of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO).
“Fiji has expressed interest in a 60-metre foot vessel, bigger than ours. What we are doing with the nine IMO Pacific member countries is we’re working together to build a proposal to different financing institutions for USD$200-USD$300 million to roll out construction for this low carbon sailing vessels for these Pacific nations, Ambassador Ishoda told PACNEWS.
At the same time, he revealed the ADB was interested in Marshall Islands ground breaking low carbon vessel.
“ADB in doing that recognises that maritime transport is such a critical part of its development agenda. And for the longest time it’s been really difficult for ADB to invest in this type of new infrastructures or new vessels like the one that the Marshall Islands has. As a bank they don’t want to put money in high-risk non-approved concepts.
“What the Marshall Islands did was that we went and worked with our bilateral partner in Germany and they approved financing of USD$10 million to get a vessel built. And we built that in South Korea.
“ADB is very interested in our concept because ADB knows because we approached the Green Climate Fund. There are only a few organisations that can be an accredited entity for this kind of massive project. What we want is to make sure that the nine islands have at least two vessels under their flotilla to start off with.
Ambassador Ishoda said RMI is also keen to bring back some of the ship building capacities within our region particularly in Fiji and the larger Pacific countries.
“When these countries have all their vessels, we can then utilise centralised locations like Fiji or Tonga that can upgrade their ports to meet the demand of the new technologies in that transition. They can bring the goods to the ports and then we can use those sailing cargo vessels to take them.
The vessel’s hybrid power system allows for versatile operation. The ship’s propeller and engine are used for slow-speed manoeuvring, while the propeller can also function as a turbine to generate electricity via a hybrid gearbox and generator.
The vessel’s innovative design enables it to achieve a service speed of approximately 12 knots under sail and around 7 knots with the auxiliary diesel engine. It’s “Indosail-Sailing Rig,” complemented by installed PV units and a hybrid drive system, is projected to reduce CO2 emissions by approximately 80 percent compared to similar-sized ships.
SV Juren Ae will be operated by Marshall Islands Shipping Corporation (MISC) for domestic sea transportation within the Marshall Islands and the broader Pacific Region. This project not only offers a compelling business case for sail-driven cargo vessels, particularly in regions with high fuel prices like the Pacific islands, but also aims to inspire other Pacific Island states to adopt low-carbon technologies and concepts for maritime transport.
