The French company Airseas, which was created with technologies from the aviation industry’s Airbus, reports it has achieved a key milestone in the testing of its wind propulsion system known as the Seawing. As part of the ongoing sea trials aboard an in-service Ro-Ro, they successfully delivered the first traction from the kite system to the vessel.
The engineers explained that the system for the first time was positioned after earlier flight tests. After lowering it to the correct angle for propulsion, they achieved traction sufficient to provide wind-assisted propulsion to the Ville de Bordeaux, a 5,200 dwt cargo Ro-Ro which is operated by Louis Dreyfus Armateurs and chartered by Airbus. The ship is sailing transatlantic between France and the U.S. Gulf Coast transporting components for Airbus. Read on.
