The SHOFU MARU is the world’s first vessel equipped with Wind Challenger.
SHOFU MARU will transport coal mainly from Australia, Indonesia, and North America as a dedicated vessel for Tohoku Electric Power Co.
The introduction of the Wind Challenger is expected to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions about 5% on a Japan-Australia voyage and about 8% on a Japan-North America West Coast voyage.
The Wind Challenger is a system, developed mainly by MOL and Oshima Shipbuilding, which uses a telescoping hard sail that harnesses wind power to propel the vessel.
SHO FU means “pine (matsu in Japanese)” and “wind (kaze in Japanese)”. The vessel name is derived from ‘Kaze no Matsubara’, the black pine trees and Wind from Wind Challenger.