A 250 sq. meter Seawing flying at a peak of 200 meters from Louis Dreyfus Armateurs’ vessel Ville de Bordeaux. A 500 sq. meter model can be onboard the vessel [Photo: Airseas]
Airseas, the Nantes, France, primarily based wind propulsion pioneer based by former Airbus engineers, has launched video of its first Seawing kite system present process transatlantic sea trials.
The system has been put in on the 154 meter RO/RO vessel Ville de Bordeaux, which is operated by Louis Dreyfus Armateurs (LDA) and chartered by Airbus, Airseas’ minority shareholder and launch buyer.
A staff of Airseas engineers is on board to check the system and collect knowledge, with the operational help of LDA’s crew and Airbus’ Transport & Logistics division.
The first phases of the ocean trials have efficiently validated key steps such because the folding and unfolding of the wing, take-off and touchdown, and flights in altitude. The subsequent part will check the Seawing in a broader vary of climate situations and fine-tune the automation system.
The footage reveals the Seawing system in motion, flying 200 meters above sea stage, harnessing the ability of the wind to propel the vessel and scale back the primary engine load. Seawing goals to scale back gasoline consumption and emissions by a mean of 20%. Combining experience from the aerospace and maritime sectors, Seawing will use digital twins and superior automation programs to make sure that the system may be safely deployed, operated and saved on the push of a button with minimal enter or coaching wanted from crew.
The firm says the answer may be put in on just about any sort of business vessel. In addition to the primary system on the Ville de Bordeaux for Airbus, Airseas has additionally obtained agency orders from Japan’s Ok Line for 5 Seawing programs, with further choices to equip as much as 51 vessels in whole.
“Testing a brand new technology in real-life conditions and while respecting the operational constraints of a commercial ship is an ambitious endeavor, and the solid progress of our sea trials is a testimony to the dedication of our team of engineers on board and on shore,” stated Vincent Bernatets, CEO of Airseas. “With these strong initial results, we’re more determined than ever to keep testing the system and collecting data, and accelerate our mission to scale up and rapidly deploy wind propulsion technology on vessels around the world. Immediate action is needed to tackle climate change and shipping’s impact on GHG emissions; we are proud to have a solution that can help ships reduce their emissions right now, and accelerate the decarbonization of the maritime sector over the coming years.”
“We are committed to playing an active role in reducing shipping’s carbon emissions, starting now,” stated Antoine Person, company secretary of Louis Dreyfus Armateurs. “We are proud to be associated with this project as a supplier and partner of Airbus, working for the success of this innovative wind propulsion solution alongside Airseas.”
