Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd., together with Ouchi Ocean Consultant, Inc., the National Maritime Research Institute (NMRI) of National Institute of Maritime, Port and Aviation Technology (MPAT), Smert Design Co., Ltd., Graduate School of Frontier Sciences of The University of Tokyo, West Japan Fluid Engineering Laboratory Co., Ltd., Nippon Kaiji Kyokai (ClassNK), and Mirai Ene Planning LLC, have been promoting zero emission business utilizing wind power and hydrogen "Wind Hunter Project" since last November.
Recently the Project successfully conducted a demonstration experiment using the yacht "WINZ MARU" in Sasebo-city, Nagasaki in Japan, according to MOL's release.
During strong wind, the yacht use wind power to generate electricity using a underwater turbine to produce and store hydrogen onboard. Durign weak wind, the stored hydrogen is used at hydrogen fuel cells to generate electricity to rotate a propeller.
Five experimental sailings have been conducted as of November 24 2021 and series of cycles has been successfully demonstrated. As a future roadmap, the partners aim to create a larger scale, about 60 meters long vessel, by 2024.