EU funders back wind-propelled roro vessel

Orcelle Wind is a wind-powered pure car truck carrier, a type of deepsea roro vessel. The ship will be 220 m long, have capacity for over 7,000 cars, and will be capable of carrying breakbulk and rolling equipment. Wallenius Wilhelmsen said Orcelle Wind is a crucial part of its fleet decarbonisation strategy, and the goal is to have the vessel on the water in late 2026 or early 2027.

The ship is the first vessel to use AlfaWall’s Oceanbird concept to use wind-power as the primary propulsion method for vessels. The concept holds that it is theoretically possible to reduce emissions from vessels by up to 90% if and when all "emissions-influencing factors are aligned".

In its statement, Wallenius Wilhelmsen called the EU project funding "a solid opportunity to combine the investments needed for full-scale demonstration and data capture with advanced models and tools for wing propulsion vessels".

An important part of the Horizon Europe funding project is installing the wing sail test rig on an existing Wallenius Wilhelmsen vessel during mid-2024. Oceanbird and Wallenius Wilhelmsen will present the test rig installation in a webcast on 26 January.

In addition to creating a demonstrator vessel, the Orcelle Wind project partners said they will use the models and tools to develop advanced conceptual designs and operational plans for use of the wind-wing propulsion technology on multiple vessel types.