14 DAY TRIAL // The maritime industry is one of the most oil-consuming in the world today, as well as one of its largest polluters, emitting nearly 800 million tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) annually. In its attempt to reduce these numbers, the Rotterdam-based company DK Group created a new type of ship, one that incorporates air cushions within the construction of the ship, but the interesting thing is that the air is not housed inside the vessel, as one might expect, but outside it, in special pockets in the hull.
Adding air cavity systems to a boat actually turned out to be a perfectly good idea. All the holes in the hull, where the air is trapped, are located 25 feet (8 meters) below water levels, but their role is obvious at first glance. According to the company, after the 272 foot-long test ship was endowed with the system, its fuel consumption rates dropped by a whopping 7 percent.
This number may not seem like much on its own, but consider the fact that the company estimates that the increase in production costs, necessary in the shipyard for retrofitting existing vessels with the new technology, is only about 2 to 3 percent of the initial cost of the ship. It stands to reason that the investment in air cavities pays for itself, in just a couple of years.
The main operating principle behind this system is minimizing water drag, which is the force with which the water opposes the forward motion of the ship. The stronger the force, the more fuel the engines need to take up in order to propel the ship. But, with air pockets underneath, the ship cuts the water, but also slides on top of it, thus eliminating a large amount of friction, saving oil, and reducing overall carbon emissions.