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Wallenius Wilhelmsen and Oceanbird have completed the installation of a wing sail on Tirranna, marking a new phase in testing wind-assisted propulsion in commercial operations.
The installation of the 46-metre wing sail onboard the 230-metre car-carrier marks a major milestone for the EU funded Orcelle Horizon project, where it will serve as the main demonstrator.
“This is a remarkable achievement, made possible by the fruitful collaboration of industry and research partners across the maritime value-chain. Wind propulsion is emerging as a key technology in the maritime transition, and data from the demonstration onboard Tirranna will yield important learnings including input to regulatory frameworks and the development of industry standards.”
– Tore Boge, Head of EU Projects, Maritime CleanTech
Valuable real-world learnings
The installation, which took place at Damen Shipyard in Rotterdam on 22–24 June, is a full-scale test designed to generate real-world insight into how the wing sail technology performs at sea. It builds on earlier land-based testing in Landskrona in Sweden. The aim is to build practical experience on board a RoRo vessel and evaluate how wind propulsion can contribute to lowering emissions.
The vessel will now enter normal operation while performance data is collected and evaluated.
“Exploring wind-assisted propulsion builds on a long history of testing new solutions to improve energy efficiency in our fleet. This is a full-scale installation in commercial operation, giving us the opportunity to learn how this technology performs in practice. It’s an important step in evaluating how solutions like this can work alongside our existing efforts as part of a broader approach to reducing emissions.”
– Lars Ekren, Senior Manager Newbuildings and Conversions at Wallenius Wilhelmsen
Expanding the market for wind propulsion
The Wing 560 sail installed on Tirranna is Oceanbird’s first onboard prototype. DNV granted the design certificate in the first week of June, verifying the class society’s approval on safety, regulatory compliance and that Wing560 meets the applicable technical requirements for Tirranna. A focused team has since run at full capacity to finalise the retrofit’s final steps to harbour acceptance testing (HAT) and sea acceptance testing (SAT).
“This is a pivotal moment for us, and it is just the beginning. Our team has worked incredibly hard to get here and we are so proud of the talent, research and dedicated work behind this prototype. We are very excited to see Wing560 perform at sea so we can prove the value of our efforts. This installation is the next step in our journey to create wind propulsion systems.”
– Amrit Bhullar, CEO, Oceanbird
The installation signals, not only Oceanbird’s tangible entry into the market, but the opening of the car carrier segment to wind propulsion. The Wing 560 stands 46-metres tall and 14-metres wide, contributing the surface area needed to provide thrust to such a large vessel.
Next steps towards wind-powered shipping
With the wing sail now installed, Tirranna will serve as a testbed for validating wing performance, automation, safety procedures, and dynamic weather routing strategies under real operating conditions across global trade routes.
The knowledge and data generated through the demonstration onboard Tirranna will inform the ongoing development of a multi-wing newbuild vessel design, Orcelle Wind.
Together with business model development, regulatory inputs, and scale-up studies across different vessel types, this supports Orcelle Horizon’s objective of enabling wind as main propulsion in deep-sea shipping.
