Oceanbird installs WAPS on Wallenius Wilhelmsen car carrier

Oceanbird, a joint venture between Swedish engineering company Alfa Laval and shipping firm Wallenius Lines, has installed its wind-assisted propulsion system (WAPS) aboard Wallenius Wilhelmsen's car carrier, Tirranna.

IMAGE: Oceanbird’s tiltable rigid wing sail installed aboard Wallenius Wilhelmsen's car carrier Tirranna. Oceanbird

The vessel has been fitted with a 46-metre tiltable rigid wing sail.

The system is primarily designed for pure car and truck carriers (PCTCs), bulkers and tankers longer than 200 metres, according to Oceanbird website.

Momentum behind wind-assisted propulsion continues to build across the shipping industry. Earlier this month, Spanish wind propulsion specialist bound4blue secured a Type Approval Design Certification from classification society DNV for its largest suction sail installation to date. French maritime company Louis Dreyfus Armateurs (LDA) also launched the second of three, methanol dual-fuel roll-on/roll-off (RoRo) vessels equipped with wind-assisted propulsion systems (WAPS).

Meanwhile, classification society Lloyd's Register (LR) and its partners agreed to jointly develop a 50,000-dwt medium-range (MR) tanker featuring WAPS, while Bureau Veritas, South Korean shipbuilder K Shipbuilding and bound4blue partnered to design a Long Range 1 (LR1) tanker incorporating the technology.

The global fleet of large commercial vessels fitted with wind-assisted propulsion surpassed 100 ships in June, according to the International Windship Association.

By Tuhin Roy

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