Union Maritime’s Chemical Tanker Newbuilds to Sport Anemoi’s Rotor Sails

Anemoi Marine Technologies, the U.K.-based designer of Rotor Sails for wind-assisted ship propulsion, has signed a deal to install its Rotor Sails on two newbuild chemical tankers under construction for Union Maritime.

The 18,500 DWT vessels, to be built by Wuhu Shipyard Co in China, will feature a combination of technologies and retrofit readiness to safeguard cost-effective decarbonization across their lifecycle.

The Rotor Sails are set to be installed at Wuhu in early 2026 after construction at Anemoi’s production facility in China.

The newbuilds will support Union Maritime’s strategy of surpassing the 20% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions (based on 2008 levels) required by the IMO’s 2030 indicative checkpoint.

The use of wind-assisted propulsion will help to ensure that the owner fulfils the IMO requirement that at least 5% of the energy used by 2030 is from zero- or near-zero-emission sources.

The vessels will each be fitted with two 3.5m-diameter Rotor Sails, with heights of 20.5m and 24m, respectively.

The Rotor Sails will be EX-rated, fulfilling the safety requirements for use on vessels carrying potentially explosive substances. Vessel and rotor sail integration design was conducted by China-based ship design and engineering consultancy Odely Marine.

“Wind propulsion is central to Union Maritime’s sustainability roadmap and to our collaborative initiative, Project AeroPower, which demonstrates that commitment in action. Partnering with Anemoi reflects our ongoing drive for scalable, high-impact innovation. We believe Anemoi’s Rotor Sail technology will be a powerful enabler of our goal to build the most energy-efficient fleet on the water,” said Bhuvnesh Dogra, Chief Technical Officer of Union Maritime.