During last year’s SMM exhibition in Hamburg Wärtsilä made a presentation called Shipping Scenarios 2030 in which three different future scenarios concerning the shipping industry were shown. One scenario could be that by 2030 freshwater becomes such a valuable commodity that it is transported across the seas in large tankers to places where it is in short supply. Wärtsilä propose a futuristic design of a 150 000 dwt water carrier with a single hull construction and a streamlined deckhouse positioned amidships. Four Flettner Rotors would harness free wind energy; main propulsion would be by a whale-tail propulsion system. Power to drive the rotor and fish tail would be by multi-fuel engines and hull resistance would be reduced using an air lubrication system. [More]