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Maritime and Ports
Wallenius Marine has been conducting advanced wind tunnel tests for a car carrier vessel that will use Oceanbird wing sails
Wallenius Marine has been conducting advanced wind tunnel tests in Gothenburg, Sweden on its design for a wind-powered pure car and truck carrier (PCTC) as part of its Orcelle Horizon project.
Rise Maritime Department, an independent, state-owned research institute (the former SSPA), carried out the tests on a 5 x 2 metre model it constructed that weighs 1.2 tons and is used to simulate the full aerodynamic performance of the ship.
The ship design involves an Oceanbird concept wing sail developed over a three-year research and design project between Wallenius Marine, KTH Royal Institute of Technology and Rise, supported by the Swedish Transport Administration.
Wallenius Marine said that wind tunnel tests carried out between December 6-9 will confirm the design and contribute to the development of new data simulation models for wind-powered ships.
“We are currently at a central stage in the design process where we want to ensure that our design meets all technical and operational requirements before we finalise the tender design,” said Carl Fagergren, senior project manager at Wallenius Marine.
In mid-2025 the Oceanbird wing sail is going to be tested live on Wallenius Wilhelmsen’s car carrier vessel Tirranna. The wing sail has already been installed on the vessel at the IMC Shipyard in Zhoushan, China. Wallenius Marine said that the test on the Tirranna would provide further input on its efforts toward zero-emission shipping. The 230-metre vessel has capacity for 8,000 car equivalent units (CEUs). The Oceanbird wing sail is designed to fold down onto the vessel when in port, passing under bridges or if winds at sea are too high.
Wallenius Wilhelmsen first presented the wind-powered PCTC concept, called Orcelle Wind, back in 2021, estimating then it could be put into operation in 2025. More recent estimates put vessel operations into 2027.
According to the Oceanbird R&D project, maritime transport emits around 940m tonnes of CO2 annually and is responsible for about 3% of global greenhouse gas emissions, meaning greater sustainability in ocean shipping is critical. In normal operation, the Orcelle Wind vessel is expected to bring a 90% reduction in emissions.
Last year the project secured funding of €9m ($9.7m) from the EU’s Horizon Europe Framework fund.