Eco Marine Power to cooperate with Nakashima Propeller in exploring maritime applications for composite materials

Lightweight & durable structures made with composite materials to also be used for ongoing project onboard cargo ship.

Fukuoka, Japan - 8th April 2024 - as part of its ongoing Aquarius Eco Ship Project, Eco Marine Power Co., Ltd. (Eco Marine Power) is to explore in cooperation with Nakashima Propeller Co., Ltd. (Nakashima Propeller), the further use of carbo-fibre reinforced plastic (CFRP) and glass-fibre reinforced plastic (GFRP) for ship structures & other maritime applications. Eco Marine Power will also investigate the use of CFRP propellers to improve energy efficiency & reduce underwater noise created by ship propulsion systems.

CFRP & GFRP are composite materials that can offer a versatile and efficient solution for a range of ship structures by providing a balance of strength, lightness, and tailored properties to meet specific application requirements. The first application that Eco Marine Power & Nakashima Propeller are jointly are working on is the design, manufacture and installation of composite material solar panel mounting frames for use onboard a bulk cargo ship. The two companies also aim to use composite material technology from Nakashima propeller for the sail structure for Eco Marine Power's patented wind-assisted propulsion device - the EnergySail®.

In 2015, Nakashima Propeller won the Prime Minister's Prize at the 6th Monozukuri Nippon Grand Awards for developing the world's first CFRP propeller for merchant ships in order to realize energy savings. Because CFRP is both lighter and stronger than conventional Nickel-aluminium bronze material, both propeller weight and moment of inertia are lower, reducing torsional vibration stress.

On release of this news, Greg Atkinson, President & Chief Technology Officer at Eco Marine Power commented, "The innovative development work related to composite materials already undertaken by Nakashima Propeller combined with cutting edge development projects being undertaken by Eco Marine Power, will open up a range of new applications for this technology onboard ships and for other maritime applications".

The project related to solar panel mounting frame kits made from composite materials has already commenced and these frames are scheduled to be installed on a ship within the next 6 months and thereafter made available for future ship solar power projects.

Eco Marine Power Co., Ltd.
Aqua Hakata 5th Floor, 5-3-8, Nakasu, Hakata-ku,
Fukuoka, 810-0801. Japan.

Media Enquiries
Greg Atkinson
President & Chief Technology Officer
Phone: +81 92 287 9677
E-mail: media@ecomarinepower.com

About Eco Marine Power

Eco Marine Power Co. Ltd. (EMP) is an internationally focused technology company based in Fukuoka, Japan, that develops renewable energy-based fuel saving and emission reduction solutions for ships including passenger ferries, cruise ships, oil tankers and cargo vessels. These technologies and solutions include Aquarius Marine Solar Power, EnergySail®(Patented), Aquarius MAS, Sailet(Patent Pending) and Aquarius MRE®(Patented).

Website: https://www.ecomarinepower.com

This release was published on openPR.