RMK MARINE won the international tender opened for the commercial Ro-Ro sailing cargo ship, planned to be driven by wind power up to a ratio of 90 percent, and signed a contract with the French company Neoline Armateurs for building the vessel that will be one of the first examples in its own segment across the world.
RMK MARINE, a leading company in Turkish shipbuilding industry, brings to life a new project in which ecological and renewable sources of energy shall be used. RMK MARINE won the international tender opened for the commercial Ro-Ro sailing cargo ship, planned to be driven by wind power up to a ratio of 90 percent according to the anticipated duty profile and to be one of the first examples in its own segment across the world, and signed a contract with the French company Neoline Armateurs on 28 November 2022 for building the vessel. The said agreement took effect on 6 January 2023 upon fulfillment of the prerequisites and the final contract was publicized in a ceremony organized with the participation of the parties in Nantes, France.
Planned to be delivered in 2025 and having the concept name of Neoliner, the 136-metres long Ro Ro vessel has been equipped with a navigation and sail equipment control system that involves a high level of integration and automation, as well as smart sensors that define the optimum navigation route and speed depending on wind and sea conditions. The vessel also has a system that determines the proper route for traveling on sail and foldable sails made of special materials that are attached to two foldable, lightweight and extremely strong carbon fiber masts.
With a total sail area of 3000 m2 as well as a crew of 20 people, and living areas and life support systems for 12 passengers, Neoliner has a cargo carriage capacity of 6300 tons. This is also a remarkable capacity which corresponds to 321 cars, 265 pieces of 20’ containers or 125 pieces of 40’ containers. On the other hand, having accomplished the design of the Ro-Ro sailing cargo ship in cooperation with Bureau Mauric which is one of the leading French ship design companies, Chantiers De l’Atlantique shipyard which is a designer and producer of sail equipment, D-ICE company which has expertise in the field of special navigation systems for traveling on sail and various other solution partners, RMK MARINE has also collaborated in this process with vendors of other critical equipment, assuming an important role in creating a synergy for the design and building of the vessel.
RMK MARINE General Manager Adnan Nefesoğlu said: “We offer our clients innovative solutions that are extremely eco-friendly and in congruence with the goals of IMO such as decarbonization and reduction of greenhouse gases and we greatly appreciate the cases where renewable sources of energy, and wind energy in particular, find areas of application in our industry as well.”
Making comments on the topic, RMK MARINE General Manager Adnan Nefesoğlu continued, “The International Maritime Organization (IMO) has set goals for all vessels to reduce their carbon emissions by 40 percent until 2030, by 70 percent until 2050, and finally to reach the level of zero carbon. In line with these targets, we use environmentalist technologies that reduce carbon footprint in the projects that we realize. On the other hand, we greatly appreciate the cases where renewable sources of energy, and wind energy in particular, find areas of application in our industry as well. The contract that we have signed with Neoline Armateurs for building the commercial Ro-Ro sailing cargo ship Neoliner, planned to be driven by wind power up to a ratio of 90 percent according to the anticipated duty profile, is another important indicator of our environmental approach to production. Following the Agreement of Intent signed on 5 July 2022, we are proud to have finalized the process with the privilege of having executed a contract with our client for building the said vessel as well as having put this contract into effect. Since we are powered by our infrastructure facilities and capacities, our set of abilities, our financial strength, the recognition we have in the eyes of our clients in the global market, the awareness we have raised and the reliability we are known for in the sector, I have full faith that we will successfully complete this important project that gives us a thrill”.
Speaking on behalf of Neoline Armateurs, CEO Jean Zanuttini said: “We are proud to have jointly achieved this project which for many reasons seemed almost impossible at the start. In a setting where climate change, one of the biggest issues of our day, manifests itself every day in different areas, starting to use wind power for commercial vessels offers a benefit-oriented solution to the problem of energy which is becoming increasingly complex. We believe that wind is a much more predictable resource in terms of price and availability compared to many other energy sources. In our opinion, wind power offers us a unique opportunity in transforming the energy sources in our industry.”
