Anemoi Marine Technologies and Cosco Shipping Heavy Industry (CHI) have renewed their framework agreement for rotor sail installations, expanding the scope of their collaboration to cover CHI’s subsidiary shipyards across China.

The UK-based wind propulsion technology provider and the Chinese shipbuilding group first entered into a cooperation agreement in 2022. Since then, nine rotor sails have been installed at CHI subsidiary shipyards, including installations on very large ore carriers (VLOCs) for Vale and U-Ming at CHI Zhoushan.

Under the updated agreement, Anemoi’s rotor sail customers can access CHI’s technical installation services, ranging from integration design to onboard installation at any CHI subsidiary shipyard in China. The arrangement allows customers to select from various services and locations across the CHI network.

Nick Contopoulos, chief commercial officer of Anemoi, said: “Renewing our framework agreement with CHI marks a major benefit for our customers. By combining CHI’s installation expertise with our proven rotor sail technology, we can deliver even more value, clarity and confidence to owners looking to retrofit or install wind-assisted propulsion on their newbuild vessels. This collaboration underscores our commitment to advancing wind propulsion across the global fleet.”

Jony Guo, director of repair and conversion at CHI’s commercial headquarters, commented: “We are delighted to renew and expand our partnership with Anemoi. Our combined experience positions us strongly to support the growing adoption of wind-assisted propulsion. This agreement reflects our ongoing commitment to enabling greener maritime operations.”

Anemoi specialises in rotor sail technology, also known as Flettner rotor technology, which harnesses wind energy to provide auxiliary propulsion, reducing fuel consumption and emissions. The systems can be installed on both newbuild vessels and retrofit projects.

CHI operates nine shipyards capable of ship newbuilding, repair and conversion, offshore and marine equipment and services. Five of these shipyards focus primarily on repair and conversion business, with CHI stating it can repair and convert over 1,500 ships annually.