The RIF Office’s team visited the Alcyone tanker in Singapore

Transition énergétique des navires

Published on 03/05/2024

During its business trip to Singapore, the delegation from the French International Register Office (RIF Office/Directorate-General for Maritime Affairs, Fisheries and Aquaculture), made up of Mrs Anne Legrégeois, Deputy Head of the Fleets and Seafarers Department, Mrs Christine Ezcutari, President of the High Council for Merchant Navy, Mr. Stéphane Garziano, Head of the RIF Office and Mr. Dylan Vloëbergh-Lair, in charge of crews and promotion of the RIF, had the opportunity to go on board the oil/chemical tanker Alcyone belonging to the French oil company Socatra.

Flying the French flag as part of the French International Register (RIF) fleet since 2022, the Alcyone (183 metres LOA, 29,507 UMS) left the shipyard (China) this April 2024, equipped with 2 rotor masts using Norsepower technology. This new equipment is impressive: 35 metres high, 05 metres in diameter!

But how do these rotor masts work? The Norsepower technology is based on the "Magnus effect" discovered in 1852 by the German physicist of the same name and transformed into a mechanical innovation by the Finnish engineer Sigurd Savonius in 1924, who was the first to install rotor masts on a ship - 100 years ago! Instead of a sail, the cylinder turns on itself thanks to an electrical impulse. In the presence of wind, the cylinder propels the ship forward by transmitting the thrust created by the difference in air pressure around it (to find out more about Magnus power).

This auxiliary propulsion force will result in substantial energy savings. Initial tests carried out between China and Singapore have shown that the initial objective of reducing fuel consumption by 08% has every chance of being achieved in commercial operation. In particular, the Alcyone provides oil supplies to French Polynesia, a strategic national issue.

For the crew, learning to master this technology on one of the very first ships in the world to be equipped with it is a very exciting project! This is excellent news, both for the decarbonization of the French-flagged shipping fleet and for the French seafarers, who are acquiring new skills.

Many thanks to Socatra (Hector Firino Martell, Alexis Turmel and Nicolas Siloret) for organising this fantastic visit, and to the crew of the Alcyone for their excellent welcome!

We wish them fair winds and following seas!

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