Sea trials underway for 'world-first' wing sail built in Renfrew

The lightweight, retrofit, recyclable FastRig has been installed on the Pacific Grebe Cargo Ship which arrived in Scotland this week.

Smart Green Shipping (SGS) worked in collaboration with Scottish engineering companies 360Energy (formerly Caley Ocean Group) and Malin Group on the project, combining proven technologies from renewables, oil and gas, and marine engineering in new ways.

(Image: Newsquest) Barbara McIntyre, engineering and operations director at Three60 Energy, told the Gazette: “This is the culmination of two years of design and engineering work at Three60 Energy.

“Drawing on Three60 Energy's 50-plus years of experience in ship-based mechanical handling systems, the base, control systems and software were designed in our office in Glasgow and assembled and tested by our skilled technicians in Renfrew.”

Barbara McIntyre on the bridge (Image: Sourced) The ship has docked in Greenock to allow project partners, the Scottish government, ship owners and financiers the opportunity to see the technology in action.

Previously FastRig underwent five months of land-based trials at Hunterston in North Ayrshire that proved the robustness of the engineering.

"We are thrilled to see SGS achieve this milestone and showcase FastRig in Greenock,” added Barbara.

“This milestone is only the end of the beginning, and we are very excited to continue supporting SGS in its mission to reduce global emissions from shipping.

“The Clyde has a long heritage for ship design and build and we are all very proud to be part of the clean energy transition.

“We look forward to seeing FastRig installed on vessels all over the world."

(Image: Sourced) The purpose of the sea trials, which conclude in November, is to corroborate lab-based modelling by the University of Southampton.

This modelling predicted that with FastRig installed there would be fuel and greenhouse gas savings of up to 30% per year on transatlantic routes.

The independently verified performance data will allow SGS to predict cost savings with FastRig technology on any suitable ship, on any route, and provide the market with evidence-based decision-making tools.

(Image: Sourced) Robbie Gorman, MD, Malin Equipment, said: “SGS’s requirement to build FastRig whilst meeting circular economy principles meant the main structure was constructed from fully recyclable aluminium.

“The structure was weight optimised to maximise emissions reductions, but it needed to be very strong and constructed to tight tolerances to allow the fuel-saving realities to match the computer modelling.

“Building such a large, lightweight structure was unusual and came with its challenges.

"We worked with our sister company, John Tracey Specialist Welding and SGS’s structural designers, Argo, to optimise elements of the design for manufacture.

"This was a key process required to take a design into the real world, work that very few companies besides SGS have completed.

“The Clyde area has a proud history in both weld development and welding.

“However, without continued investment in maintaining these skills, we risk seeing a generational gap develop.”

(Image: Sourced) Robbie said that some of the personnel involved in this project included those had worked in long shuttered Clyde yards.

“Major projects like this allow them to transfer their skills onto the next generation of trainees and apprentices, ensuring the continuity of knowledge and techniques developed over many years,” he added.