“K” Line Signs for up to 50 Automated Kites from Airseas
After two years of close technical and business cooperation, Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha (“K” Line) announces a 20-year agreement with Airseas to install and service one ship with Seawing, an automated kite based on parafoil technology used to tow commercial ships and reduce CO2 by 20% through wind propulsion.
Once the first Seawing is successfully delivered, “K” Line will contemplate to order up to 50 additional Seawing.
“Seawing represents a breakthrough for our industry and for the environment”, Mr Asano, SMEO of “K” Line says. He continues, “K” Line is proud to demonstrate its commitment to the global environment by applying leading technology to improve ship efficiency and to solve the core issues of maritime emissions. Beyond reducing our emissions by more than 20% with its kite, Airseas is a top end digital partner looking at integrating their solution with our Kawasaki Integrated Maritime Solutions, which is an integrated vessel operation and performance management system, in order to smartly manage our vessel operation. Seawing reduces the environmental footprint of capsize vessels by 5,200t of CO2 per year depending on the vessel voyage route, that is contributing to achieving our goal to reduce CO2 emissions by half, targeting year 2050, in “K” Line Environmental Vision 2050.”
“We are proud that “K” Line as a leading ship owner confirms its trust towards Airseas following its two years of intense assessment of our solution. With this deal, we will kick-start our industrial scale up. Seawing’s innovative technology will become a leading energy efficient solution for the shipping industry, thus contributing to cleaner sky and oceans”, says Mr Bernatets, CEO of Airseas.