• Wind assistance system installed on the “Amadeus Titanium”
• Covestro and HGK Shipping enhance sustainable short-sea transport services
• Savings of about ten percent in fuel and lower CO₂ emissions

Covestro and HGK Shipping are jointly taking another step towards sustainability: thanks to a resource-saving wind assistance system, the coastal vessel “Amadeus Titanium” operated by Amadeus Shiffahrts- und Speditions GmbH can complete its transport tasks for its long-standing partner, Covestro, in an even more sustainable manner since the end of March 2026. The vessel operated by the HGK Shipping subsidiary was equipped with VentoFoils® from Econowind at the Dutch port town of Harlingen. This innovative technology makes use of wind power for the drive system and enables average fuel savings of about ten percent – which also means a reduction in the vessel’s CO₂ emissions.

“A very long cooperation arrangement based on trust connects us with our logistics partner, HGK Shipping. The equipment installed on board the ‘Amadeus Titanium’ represents another important step taken within this relationship and is enabling us to make our supply chains even more sustainable,” says Nils Peterzelka, the Sourcing Manager Regional Bulk Shipping of Covestro, setting the project in context. Wolfgang Nowak, the Managing Director of Amadeus Schiffahrts- und Speditions GmbH, adds his comments from the shipping company’s point of view. “By using WAPS, i.e. so-called wind assistance propulsion systems such as the VentoFoils® from Econowind, we’re able to save fuel in our short-sea transport operations for Covestro. This brings with it both economic and ecological benefits.”

Sustainable transport solutions on the agenda

“Technological progress will create more options to complete transport logistics operations in the maritime sector and in the waterways system with lower emissions in future. Working with strategic partners such as Covestro, we’re seizing the opportunities that the market is opening up in the field of drive technologies, for example, or those that we’re developing for the design of vessels, often in conjunction with our customers,” says Steffen Bauer, the CEO of the HGK Group and the CEO of HGK Shipping, emphasising his point.

“It’s our goal to reduce our CO₂ emissions in logistics by 30 percent by 2035 and already be climate-neutral in 2050. Today marks a further milestone in our transformation towards green logistics,” says Cristina-Maria Danila, the Head of Global Supply Chain & Logistics at Covestro.

Covestro and HGK Shipping are looking back on a long and successful partnership in inland waterway transport and short-sea shipping. The companies signed the extension of their cooperation arrangement until 2040 at the “transport logistic” trade fair in Munich in 2025. Within this partnership, the “Amadeus Titanium” will exclusively transport Covestro products on European short-sea routes.