Wind-assisted propulsion systems manufacturer Norsepower has opened what it calls “the world’s first dedicated rotor sail factory” in the coastal district of Dafeng, China. The company initially plans to produce 50 Norsepower Rotor Sail (NPRS) units annually at this facility, scaling up to 100 per year by the end of 2027. The Dafeng site was […]
Econowind and Jumbo Maritime have collaborated on a recent installation The shipping industry is increasingly embracing wind-assisted ship propulsion technology, and most recently heavy lift shipping and offshore transport company Jumbo Maritime has joined the movement. Wind power technology supplier Econowind has installed two leased VentoFoil units on the heavy lift vessel Jumbo Jubilee in […]
By Mikko Nikkanen, head of maritime, weather and environment, Vaisala With annual international shipping CO₂ emissions doubling since 1990 and now accounting for roughly 10% of global transportation emissions, the maritime shipping sector sits at a crossroads in the fight against climate change. Players across the global shipping industry must find new ways to embrace […]
By Alberto Llopis Pascual, head of aerodynamics, bound4blue Since the decline of commercial sail-powered vessels, there has been remarkable progress in sail technology, driven by a renewed interest in sustainable maritime solutions. The modern sail has evolved far beyond the traditional cloth structures once used on clipper ships. Today’s sails benefit from advanced designs, innovative […]
Carefully curated agenda to take a focused look at recent technological, design and policy developments shaping the future landscape for wind-assisted propulsion Since its inauguration in 2019, the now annual Wind Propulsion Conference has become an essential event for the maritime community, with attending speakers and delegates spanning the technology companies, academia, shipowners and industry […]
New regulations, price challenges for existing and new fuels along with the growing pressure from cargo owners to reduce Scope 3 emissions are driving an increased deployment of wind propulsion technologies, writes Gavin Allwright In 1860, just before he became president, Abraham Lincoln gave a speech featuring one of my favourite quotes regarding wind power. […]
You know you’ve hit on an innovative vessel design when you’re not quite sure how to categorise it. For example, the Most Valuable Yacht (MVY) concept devised by UK start-up DRIFT Energy could be categorised as a hydrogen production and bunkering vessel or, alternatively, as a “green, self-filling tanker” or a “fishing boat for energy”, […]
Marflet Marine, a Spanish private shipping company, has announced a new step in its decarbonisation strategy by signing a contract with bound4blue to install four 22m-high eSAILs on its oil and chemical tanker Santiago I. Scheduled for mid-2025, the installation will make Marflet the first Spanish shipowner to integrate wind-assisted propulsion (WAP) in its merchant […]
In a new move toward sustainable maritime transportation, bound4blue, one of several companies working on wind-assisted propulsion systems, has achieved another landmark by installing the first-ever fixed suction sails on a Roll-on/Roll-off (ro-ro) vessel. The project took place aboard the Ville de Bordeaux, a vessel chartered by Airbus from French shipowner Louis Dreyfus Armateurs (LDA). […]
Zulu Associates, an Antwerp-based maritime innovator, has published designs for a zero emission autonomous 200 TEU container vessel utilising an auxiliary wind assistance system. The Zulu MASS, which has been designed by Dutch naval architects Conoship International, is being developed with Zulu’s subsidiary the Anglo Belgian Shipping company. As the company’s name suggests it is […]
European developer of wind-assisted propulsion (WAP) systems bound4blue has secured €22.4 million in new funding from several key investors as well as the European Commission. A total of €15.9 million comes from a Series A funding round led by GTT Strategic Ventures, with the participation of the EIC Fund (European Innovation Council) and the Sustainable […]
By Michal Orych, managing director, FLOWTECH Int. AB, Martin Kjellberg, RISE Research Institutes of Sweden/SSPA, and Lars Larsson, Chalmers University of Technology Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) is presently an accepted tool for predicting calm water resistance and power at model scale. The status of CFD for these applications is well covered by the International Workshops […]