“Invention of a rigid wing sail with height adjustment for wind assisted propulsion ships”

Mitsui O.S.K. Lines announced that the “Invention of a rigid wing sail with height adjustment for wind assisted propulsion ships”  was awarded for the WIPO Prize at the 2025 National Commendation for Invention held by the Japan Institute of Invention and Innovation , and MOL received the Invention Implementation Achievement Award.”
Currently, two vessels, the Shofu Maru and Green Winds, are equipped with this system, and 7 bulk carriers and 2LNG carriers are scheduled to be equipped in the future . As stated in the “MOL Group Environmental Vision 2.2,” MOL plans to install the sails on 25 vessels by 2030 and 80 by 2035.

This award is for the invention of a hard sail whose height can be adjusted by extending and retracting the sail up and down. The use of hard sails allows the conversion of wind power into ship propulsion as an alternative energy source to fossil fuels and is expected to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions due to fuel savings. This hard sail was installed on the 100,000-DWT coal carrier Shofu Maru, in October 2022, and to date, the ship has achieved average fuel savings of about 5% to 8% per voyage and up to 17% per day.

The award ceremony will be held on Tuesday, July 1, in the presence of Her Imperial Highness Princess of Hitachi Hanako of Japan.

＜Picture of award ceremony are planned to be added on 1^st July＞

Through the safe management and operational efficiency of its environmentally friendly fleet, combined with Wind Challenger, which uses this invention technology, the MOL Group will contribute not only to the reduction of GHG emissions from its own group, but also to the decarbonization of society as a whole.

The details of the 2025 National Commendation for Invention “WIPO Award” are as follows.

• Winning themes
  “Invention of a rigid wing sail with height adjustment for wind assisted propulsion ships”
• Award winners
  Inventors
  Ouchi Ocean Consultant, Inc. CEO Kazuyuki Ouchi
  Kanazawa Institute of Technology, Innovative Composite
  Materials Research & Development Center Director Kiyoshi Uzawa
  Invention Implementation Achievement Award recipients
  Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd. President & CEO Takeshi Hashimoto
  Oshima Shipbuilding Co., Ltd. President Makoto Yamaguchi
• Features of the awarding technology
  This invention relates to a hard sail that can be extended and retracted to adjust its height, and harnesses wind power to propel a vessel. The entire sail can be telescoped up and down to expand and contract the sail area and adjust the moment applied to the base of the mast by adjusting the position of the aerodynamic center.