Portsmouth marine firm signs on with Mitsubishi & Tokyo shipbuilder to bring WindWings to Japan

Portsmouth wind and marine engineering consultancy BAR Technologies has teamed up with Mitsubishi Corporation and Japanese ship designer Nihon Shipyard.

The three businesses are set to collaborate on future projects after signing a memorandum of understanding.

This follows the successful installation of BAR Technologies’ wind propulsion system WindWings onto Mitsubishi’s cargo ship Pyxis Ocean.

By joining forces, they say they’ll be better placed to offer low-emission vessels to the Japanese shipping industry.

The agreement also provides a way of expediting wind-assisted propulsion systems into Japanese vessel manufacturing, supplying domestic and global markets.

Together, the trio will look to deliver new low-emission ships while also identifying opportunities to integrate WindWings into existing and new designs.

Mitsubishi will operate as an agent for WindWings in Japan – offering Japanese owners a complete solution for wind propulsion.

John Cooper, chief executive of BAR Technologies, said: “As the third largest global shipping manufacturer, Japan has huge potential to drive positive change in the next generation of large commodities vessels.

“With a rapidly growing pipeline of WindWings orders for vessels in other major shipping markets, the next logical stage in our journey was to seek a partnership with Mitsubishi Corporation and Nihon Shipyard to enable customers in Japan to ensure their fleets will be compliant with global shipping emissions regulations now and into the future.”

Naoki Arima, general manager for Mitsubishi’s ship and infrastructure department, added: “We recognised that a partnership with BAR Technologies and Nihon Shipyard would deliver on our aims to support the evolution of ship design and propulsion into a new low carbon paradigm.

“Having an existing, long and trustworthy relationship with BAR Technologies and its WindWings technology, we felt the next step in the partnership was to further integrate the offer.

“This enables us to provide more value to the industry, especially for Japanese shipping companies who are exploring ways to maintain a sustainable business.”