TECH NEWS The first Seawing system has been installed on the vessel Ville de Bordeaux, chartered by Airbus and operated by Louis Dreyfus Armateurs.
Photo Credit: Airseas
Seawing Kite to Start Trials on Airbus RO/RO AIRSEAS, A FRENCH TECH PIONEER founded by former Airbus engineers, has completed the first installation of its automated kite Seawing on a commercial vessel. The first Seaw ing system has been installed on the vessel Ville de Bordeaux, chartered by Airbus and operated by Louis Dreyfus Armateurs. The RO/RO ship, which transports major aircraft components between France and the United States, will deploy a 500-squaremeter Seawing on its monthly transatlantic voyages starting this month, conducting six months of sea trials and testing ahead of its full operation. The deployment follows formal a pprov a l f rom cl a s s i f i c a t i on s o c i e t y Bureau Veritas for Airseas to begin operations at sea, following three years of close collaboration on the development and early trials of the Seawing. Airseas is unique in its integration of expertise from the aeronautical sector, including digital twin and automation technology, to the maritime industry. It says this means that the Seawing can be safely deployed, operated and stored at the push of a button, and can be retrofitted on a ship in two days.
Airseas’ full size Seawing is a 1,000-squaremeter parafoil, which flies at an altitude of 300 meters capturing the strength of the wind to propel the vessel. Based on modeling and preliminary testing on land, Airseas estimates that the Seawing system will enable an average 20% reduction in fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. “A decade ago, we embarked on the ambitious project of channeling our unique aviation expertise towards creating a cleaner and more sustainable shipping industry,” said Airseas CEO and founder Vincent Bernatets. “I am beyond proud to see that vision becoming reality, with our first Seawing ready to make a tangible difference for our planet. This first installation marks a significant milestone not only for Airseas, but also for wind and other renewable propulsion technologies in general. “Given the urgency of the climate crisis, the world needs to see a drastic reduction in carbon emissions now. In shipping, we can achieve this by using the full set of tools we have available to us today. Wind propulsion is one of these and will play an essential role in helping shipping achieve its muchneeded decarbonization transition.”
Wärtsilä Partners with Microsoft to Industrialize WITH DEC ADES of ex perience and expertise in high-end marine Internet of Things (IoT) offerings, Wärtsilä Voyage plans to accelerate its efforts to industrialize IoT for shipping through a highly scalable, cyber-secure plat form that integrates Microsoft Azure IoT Edge. Wärtsilä Voyage calls the deployment of streamlined Intelligent Edge technology “an essential enabler” to meet shipping’s decarbonization targets as well as for large-scale application of autonomous technology. “The maritime world is entering the digital era where mutualizing our investments into common platforms and standards is a prerequisite to successful innovations for a more sustainable and efficient maritime industry,” said Sean Fernback, president, Wärtsilä Voyage and executive vice president, Wärtsilä. “The Wärtsilä common plat form will ac t as an enabler to deploy future technology for autonomy and emissions reduction. We want to focus our efforts on those fields with commonly shared standards that give vessels easier access to innovative solutions.” Wärtsilä Voyage will also focus on strategic themes spanning industrial remote operation capabilities, state-of-the-art cybersecurity with ac tive monitoring, runtime, and commonly shared data standards to ease collaboration between maritime stakeholders. Through its secured-by-design remote operation capabilities, the Wärtsilä platform will enable immediate access to the latest solutions onboard. A s set commis sioning, diagnostic, updates, and upgrades will be per formed remotely— streamlining maintenance, speeding up deployment, and increasing vessel uptime. Wär tsilä Voyage will also integrate several Microsof t Securit y and IoT solutions to s trengthen t h e p l a t f o r m w i t h m o n i t o r i n g, security updates and asset management services.
January 2022 // Marine Log 27
