A container ship that floated into Vancouver's harbour this weekend caught the attention of people along the waterfront.
The reason? It's got an unusual front end.
In fact, the rounded feature curving up from the bow and hull of the MSC Boston is an old piece of technology, in a way. It's a bow wind deflector, also known as a windshield.
While windshields were invented in cars to keep the driver's eyes safe, they've become part of the aerodynamic design of other modern vehicles.
And now freighters are doing the same thing.
"By reducing wind resistance on the bow, the windshield helps lower fuel consumption and emissions, while improving stability and overall performance," reads a post by the Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC).
The MSC Boston is a brand new ship. It only launched in February out of China. It's huge, as well, stretching 335 metres and can hold 11,400 standard 20-foot-long (6.1 metre) containers. It arrived in Burrard Inlet on Saturday morning and left Sunday afternoon.
The vessel features a variety of sustainability and efficiency features, including liquid natural gas engines, a relatively new development in freighters. Starting in 2024, freighters powered by LNG can get filled up at Vancouver, a practice referred to as bunkering.
The wind deflector is another of those efficiency features.
The MSC Boston was built by the New Times Shipyard in Jingjiang, China. While it was built in China for a Swiss-based company and named after an American city, the ship flies the Liberian flag.
Efficiency and sustainability are becoming more common topics in the shipping industry, which has led to a few innovations, including hard sails.
Watch the MSC Boston travel through Burrard Inlet
The reason? It's got an unusual front end.
In fact, the rounded feature curving up from the bow and hull of the MSC Boston is an old piece of technology, in a way. It's a bow wind deflector, also known as a windshield.
While windshields were invented in cars to keep the driver's eyes safe, they've become part of the aerodynamic design of other modern vehicles.
And now freighters are doing the same thing.
"By reducing wind resistance on the bow, the windshield helps lower fuel consumption and emissions, while improving stability and overall performance," reads a post by the Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC).
The MSC Boston is a brand new ship. It only launched in February out of China. It's huge, as well, stretching 335 metres and can hold 11,400 standard 20-foot-long (6.1 metre) containers. It arrived in Burrard Inlet on Saturday morning and left Sunday afternoon.
The vessel features a variety of sustainability and efficiency features, including liquid natural gas engines, a relatively new development in freighters. Starting in 2024, freighters powered by LNG can get filled up at Vancouver, a practice referred to as bunkering.
The wind deflector is another of those efficiency features.
The MSC Boston was built by the New Times Shipyard in Jingjiang, China. While it was built in China for a Swiss-based company and named after an American city, the ship flies the Liberian flag.
Efficiency and sustainability are becoming more common topics in the shipping industry, which has led to a few innovations, including hard sails.
Watch the MSC Boston travel through Burrard Inlet