The test of these "cylindrical candles" is part of a joint project of Maersk Tankers, Energy Technologies Institute (TSI) and Shell Shipping & Maritime

According to ANAVE, Maersk Tankers has installed two 30 m and 5 m diameter Flettner cylindrical rotors, designed by Norsepower, on board its oil tanker Maersk Pelican, in the port of Rotterdam. These cylinders turn when they receive the side wind generating an avant push thanks to the Magnus effect (same that allows football players to make curved or "threaded" launches). This provides additional energy to the ship, reducing its fuel consumption by up to 10%, according to shipping sources.

The first trip of this oil tanker will soon begin to test the effectiveness and economic viability of this system, whose performance data will be analysed by Lloyd's Register. In the words of the technical director of Maersk Tankers, "this technology can help reduce the environmental impact of maritime transport and the sector to be more cost-competitive."

The Maersk Pelican is the world's largest ship recently equipped with this wind propulsion system. Others are the E-Ship1, roro dedicated to the transport of wind generators (2010), which uses 4 rotors; the Estraden, a roro that operates a regular line between Belgium and the United Kingdom (2017), with two rotors and the Viking Grace, a cruise ferry that covers the line between the ports of Stockholm (Sweden) and Turku (Finland) and that also uses LNG as fuel, which installed a single rotor in April 2018.

The wind rotor was invented by the German engineer Anton Flettner and is no new, as it was installed on two ships in the early 20th century, Baden Baden (1924), which crossed the Atlantic almost exclusively driven by them and Barbara (1926). Although the results of these tests were favourable, their use was not widespread by the generalization of diesel motor vessels. Some 50 years later, the famous French researcher Jacques Ives Cousteau took up the idea and in 1980 he installed two rotors on the oceanographic research ship Alcyone.