The world’s first wind-powered RoRo vessel
Danish Knud E. Hansen will design world's 1st wind-powered RoRo
On June 21st 2022 Swedish ship management and ship design company Wallenius Marine and Danish naval architecture and design company KNUD E. HANSEN signed an agreement that KNUD E. HANSEN will join the project of designing the world’s first wind-powered RoRo vessel, as Naval Architects.
Wallenius Wilhelmsen has a goal of phasing out the use of fossil fuels in their merchant fleet and an important step has just been taken by entering into an agreement with the Danish ship designers Knud E. Hansen to design the world’s first wind-powered ro-ro vessel.
The innovative 7,000 CEU vessel concept will use wind as the main form of propulsion. The ship will be able to reach a speed of 10 – 12 knots for sails, but the ship will also have engines to put further push in the vessel. There will be room for 7000 cars on board as well as room for other cargo. It will be able to reduce emissions by as much as 90 per cent.
The wing technology itself has been developed by AlfaWall Oceanbird, which is a joint venture between Alfa Laval and Wallenius and the ship is expected to be delivered during 2025.
The vessel will:
- use wind as the main form of propulsion
- operate at speeds of 10-12 knots under sail that can be increased with the supplemental power system
- reduce emissions by as much as 90 percent
- have a capacity to carry 7000 cars along with breakbulk and rolling equipment
The Wallenius Wilhelmsen group is a world leading global shipping and logistic partner, offering premium end-to-end supply chain management. The company operates over 130 vessels servicing 16 trade routes to six continents, and a global inland distribution network, processing centres, and marine terminals all over the world.
Wallenius Wilhelmsen is on a mission to phase out fossile fuels. Moving forward the company explore realistic alternatives, including the infrastructure for delivering and supporting them. Orcelle Wind is the first vessel from the Oceanbird concept and is one of the alternative paths Wallenius Wilhelmsen is looking into. The group is headquartered in Oslo, Norway with 8,200 employees in 29 countries worldwide.
This article is shared by courtesy of Knud E. Hansen – a Danish-based, leading independent consultancy that has been providing a comprehensive range of design, engineering and project management services to shipyards and ship owners around the world since 1937. https://www.knudehansen.com/
