Airbus announced that it will equip one of the vessels it uses to transport aircraft subassemblies, chartered from shipowner Louis Dreyfus Armateurs, with a wind-assisted propulsion technology that captures wind energy to generate thrust.
In particular, this delivers savings in fuel consumption and CO2 emissions.
As explained, the eSAIL, developed by the Spain-based firm bound4blue, creates as much as six to seven times more lift than a conventional rigid sail. It consists of a sail-like vertical surface and an electric-powered air suction system that helps the airflow to re-adhere to the sail, generating additional lift and thereby reducing the load on the ship’s main engines.
Three 22-metre-high eSAILs will be fitted to the Ville de Bordeaux ahead of a six-month performance monitoring period starting early 2024.
As we embark on an exciting journey with our partners Louis Dreyfus Armateurs and bound4blue, we reaffirm our ambition to explore all innovation pathways to develop more sustainable maritime solutions and further reduce the carbon footprint of our industrial operations. This technology looks promising and we are eager to start testing it in real conditions by the end of the year.
..said Nicolas Chrétien, Head of Sustainability & Environment at Airbus.
At Louis Dreyfus Armateurs, we are committed to supporting the decarbonization of the shipping industry, achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
…said Mathieu Muzeau, Transport & Logistic General Manager at Louis Dreyfus Armateurs.
After having implemented and proven our technology on three ships already, we’re excited to install our 22-metre eSAILs on Ville de Bordeaux. This deployment will mark the first-ever fixed suction sail installation on a Ro-Ro ship, demonstrating that suction sails can be deployed on ships with high weather deck and large windage area, not compromising the vessel’s stability.
..said David Ferrer, CTO of bound4blue.
