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There are limitations, such as bottlenecks such as the Suez and Panama canals: “Neither allow ships to operate under sail. The Panama Canal also has a bridge over it, with a height limitation of about 50 meters,” says De Beukelaer. And of course, not all boats are well suited to sails. Container ships, for example, have little deck space to mount them, unlike car carriers or bulk carriers, which store their cargo in the cargo hold, leaving enough floor space available, and do not require cranes to unload.

According to the IMO, there Seven categories of wind propulsion technologies, which can be applied to virtually all types of ships. While Oceanbird uses hard sails, there are also soft sails, similar to those most associated with classic sailboats, but with more advanced materials.

For large boats, rotor sails (also called Flettner rotors, after their inventor) will be a popular choice. These are compound cylinders that rotate up to 300 times per second, generating thrust due to a pressure differential. The similar-looking suction wings, or turbosails, developed by explorer Jacques Cousteau in the 1980s, do not rotate, but rely on internal fans that create a suction effect. There are also giant kites, normally unfurled some 200 meters above the ship, and wind turbines, not unlike those used to generate electricity but mounted on deck with the option of providing power or thrust. Finally, there is a hull form, in which the entire ship is essentially designed as one large sail to catch the wind.

Around 25 large wind-powered freighters are already operating around the world, with most of these technologies represented: “Rotor sails have the most facilities, one of the reasons is that they began to be commercialized before the others,” says Gavin Allwright. , Secretary General of the International Windship Association, a non-profit organization founded in 2014 that promotes wind propulsion in commercial shipping. “Back then, the entire shipping policy framework revolved around fossil fuels. Getting wind power accepted and included in that is an ongoing challenge, but we’re seeing that happen more and more: by the end of this year, we should have 48, possibly 49 wind-powered vessels, which would lead us to possibly 3.5 million deadweight tons. shipping.”

That is a minuscule percentage of the global world. ability of 2.2 billion metric deadweight tons, as wind technology remains expensive in this nascent phase. “We’re still in our early days, but for every doubling of installations, we see a 10 percent reduction in costs,” Allwright says. “However, 2023 will probably be more like 20 or 25 percent [savings]because those early cost reductions are the easy fruit and within reach.”

Among other factors that could accelerate adoption, Allwright says, are the simplification of the certification process for new wind-powered ships, as well as possibly higher fuel costs, which could be affected by new carbon taxes like the one the European Union has agreed. introduce in 2024. Another key enabler would be acceptance of slower shipping times. According to IMO Dear All, simply adding wind propulsion to a single ship could reduce emissions by more than 22 percent. However, extending the journey time by a fifth increases that to almost 50 percent, and extending it in half reduces emissions by 67 percent. TO study by the University of Manchester similarly shows that cuts in emissions jump from 10 per cent to 44 per cent on a ship with rotor sails when speed is reduced and a flexible arrival time is allowed.