Top Page > Information > MOL awarded - "WIPO" for National Invention Award 2025 "Invention of a rigid wing sail with height adjustment for wind assisted propulsion ships"

MOL awarded - "WIPO" for National Invention Award 2025
"Invention of a rigid wing sail with height adjustment for wind assisted propulsion ships"

May 27, 2025

TOKYO-Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd. (MOL; President & CEO: Takeshi Hashimoto) today announced that the "Invention of a rigid wing sail with height adjustment for wind assisted propulsion ships" (Patent No. 5318008, Title of Invention: Sailing Ship) was awarded for the WIPO Prize (Note 1) at the 2025 National Commendation for Invention held by the Japan Institute of Invention and Innovation (JIII), and MOL received the Invention Implementation Achievement Award."
Currently, two vessels, the Shofu Maru and Green Winds, are equipped with this system, and 7 bulk carriers and 2LNG carriers are scheduled to be equipped in the future (Note 2). As stated in the "MOL Group Environmental Vision 2.2," MOL plans to install the sails on 25 vessels by 2030 and 80 by 2035.

Bulk carrier Shofu Maru equipped with Wind Challenger(hard sail based on the invention)

This award is for the invention of a hard sail whose height can be adjusted by extending and retracting the sail up and down. The use of hard sails allows the conversion of wind power into ship propulsion as an alternative energy source to fossil fuels and is expected to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions due to fuel savings. This hard sail was installed on the 100,000-DWT coal carrier Shofu Maru, in October 2022, and to date, the ship has achieved average fuel savings of about 5% to 8% per voyage and up to 17% per day.

The award ceremony will be held on Tuesday, July 1, in the presence of Her Imperial Highness Princess of Hitachi Hanako of Japan.

<Picture of award ceremony are planned to be added on 1st July>

Through the safe management and operational efficiency of its environmentally friendly fleet, combined with Wind Challenger, which uses this invention technology, the MOL Group will contribute not only to the reduction of GHG emissions from its own group, but also to the decarbonization of society as a whole.

The details of the 2025 National Commendation for Invention "WIPO Award" are as follows.

  • Winning themes
    "Invention of a rigid wing sail with height adjustment for wind assisted propulsion ships"
  • Award winners
    Inventors
    Ouchi Ocean Consultant, Inc. CEO Kazuyuki Ouchi
    Kanazawa Institute of Technology, Innovative Composite
    Materials Research & Development Center Director Kiyoshi Uzawa
    Invention Implementation Achievement Award recipients
    Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd. President & CEO Takeshi Hashimoto
    Oshima Shipbuilding Co., Ltd. President Makoto Yamaguchi
  • Features of the awarding technology
    This invention relates to a hard sail that can be extended and retracted to adjust its height, and harnesses wind power to propel a vessel. The entire sail can be telescoped up and down to expand and contract the sail area and adjust the moment applied to the base of the mast by adjusting the position of the aerodynamic center.

(Note 1): World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO): the United Nations agency responsible for the development of international intellectual property (IP) systems.

(Note 2): The hard sail of this invention is being used in the Wind Challenger Project in our company, and the construction of equipped vessels are being built one after another. Please see the table below for Wind Challenger-equipped vessels.

Delivery status Ship type/No. of vessels Related press releases
Delivered 2 bulk carriers October 7, 2022
Delivery of Shofu Maru, World's First Cargo Vessel equipped with 'Wind Challenger' Hard Sail
May 15, 2024
Shofu Maru, World's 1st Wind Challenger-equipped Coal Carrier, Achieves Fuel Savings of 17%
July 10, 2024
MOL Announces Delivery of Bulk Carrier Green Winds, 2nd Vessel Equipped with Wind Challenger Hard Sail Propulsion System
Scheduled delivery 7 bulk carriers May 24, 2024
Wind Challenger to be Installed on Coal Carrier for J-Power - World's 1st Retrofit on an In-service Vessel
May 27, 2024
Wind Propulsion Systems will be Installed on 7 Vessels Operated by MOL Drybulk
2 LNG carriers September 13, 2024
MOL and Chevron Shipping Company to Install Wind Challenger on LNG Carrier Wind-Assisted Ship Propulsion Systems is an LNG Shipping First
April 10, 2025
Install Wind Challenger Hard Sail Propulsion Systems on LNG Carrier Serving Tokyo Gas

MOL Group 5 Sustainability Issues
MOL Group identifies "Sustainability Issues" (Materiality) as our key issues for sustainable growth with society through realization of the Group Vision.
We anticipate this initiative to contribute especially to the realization of "Environment -Conservation for Marine and global environment-" and "Innovation -Innovation for development in marine technology-".