Greek shipowner Evangelos Marinakis’ Capital Ship Management has joined South Korea’s K Shipbuilding and Lloyd’s Register in a joint development project for a wind-assisted 50,000-dwt MR product tanker, according to Lloyd’s Register.
The work will test whether wind-assisted propulsion systems can deliver commercially viable efficiency gains without reducing cargo capacity or limiting operational flexibility.
The programme covers technical studies, design optimisation and regulatory assessment, with future approval-in-principle work and commercial deployment in view.
Capital will contribute tanker operating experience, K Shipbuilding will provide ship design and construction expertise, and Lloyd’s Register will handle technical assurance and advise on classification and regulatory requirements.
Capital chief technical officer Nikolas Vaporis said the project would move the company’s wind propulsion strategy from “ready” to “proven”. The Piraeus-based manager took delivery of six 50,000-dwt MR chemical and product tankers in 2023, each carrying a Wind-Assisted Ready notation.
The project is the first stage of a wider technical programme examining the engineering, operational and regulatory issues involved in applying wind-assisted propulsion to tanker designs.
Capital Ship Management is part of the wider shipping interests of Greek shipowner Evangelos Marinakis. It manages 54 tankers totalling about 11.25m dwt, comprising 26 VLCCs, 12 suezmaxes, nine aframaxes and seven MR or handy-size product tankers.
K Shipbuilding, based in Changwon’s Jinhae district, was established in 1967. The South Korean shipbuilder has delivered more than 700 vessels and has annual capacity to construct about 20 MR tankers.
Lloyd’s Register is the project’s technical assurance, classification and regulatory adviser.