A wing-based sail design that takes inspiration from an airliner is about to shake up the shipping industry.
The innovative Swedish technology seeks to power even the largest vessels by wind, dramatically cutting emissions by up to 90%.
It achieves this using similar aerodynamics to the airline industry with a main sail and a flap working together to optimise the force of the wind.
Part of the wing can be folded away so the rest of the wing can be tilted when entering a harbour, passing under a bridge or if the surface area needs to be reduced due to strong winds.
The Oceanbird concept has its roots in a sustainability road map established ten years ago at Wallenius Marine to eliminate emissions from shipping.
The first fruits of this initiative will be a winged cargo car carrier named Orcelle Wind.
The Oceanbird ‘wing’ technology that will power this craft is the result of a collaboration between Wallenius Marine, KTH Royal Institute of Technology and SSPA/RISE. Wallenius has now partnered up with industrial designer Alfa Laval to build the Orcelle Wind.
Niclas Dahl, managing director at Oceanbird, says that collaboration has been instrumental to the Oceanbird concept, by gathering people across different sectors and companies.
“By working together, we will bring the Orcelle Wind project to life – and by that – take a huge step towards truly sustainable shipping,” he says.
The shipping industry is a major emitter of climate pollution, according to the International Council on Clean Transportation, and emissions are expected to double by 2050 as global demands on the sector increase.
Oceanbird says it wants to “take de-carbonisation one step further, by contributing to changing, updating, and remodelling an entire industry”.