Taiwanese shipping firm U-Ming‘s vessel has been fitted with a wind propulsion system from Anemoi Marine Technologies to reduce bunker fuel consumption and emissions.

The 325,000 DWT very large ore carrier, Grand Pioneer, was fitted with four 35 m rotor sails at Cosco Zhoushan Shipyard in China, Anemoi said in an email statement on Wednesday.

The rotor sails were fully assembled and delivered from Anemoi’s manufacturing unit on the Yangtze River.

“For this installation, it took only 1.5 days to lift and fix the Rotor Sails in position onboard, with a further 5 days for commissioning and testing all four Rotor Sails and folding systems once the shipyard had completed their works during the vessel’s scheduled dry-dock in September 2025,” Anemoi said.

Rotor sails are tall spinning cylinders that harness the Magnus effect, using wind to generate thrust and reduce engine load, lowering both fuel consumption and emissions.

The Grand Pioneer will now resume its operations between Brazil and China under a charter agreement with Brazilian mining firm Vale.

Anemoi claims the vessel can achieve an annual bunker fuel saving of 10-12% on average.