Ship chartered by Airbus to be fitted with suction sails

Developed by the Spain-based firm bound4blue, the eSAIL is said to create as much as six to seven times more lift than a conventional rigid sail. Airbus said it consists of a sail-like vertical surface and an electric-powered air suction system that helps the airflow to re-adhere to the sail, generating additional lift and reducing the load on the ship’s main engines.

Three 22-metre-high eSAILs will be fitted to Louis Dreyfus Armateurs’ Ville de Bordeaux ahead of a six-month performance monitoring period starting early 2024. The roll-on/roll-off (ro-ro) Ville de Bordeaux regularly ferries A320 Family subassemblies from Europe to Mobile, Alabama in the United States for final assembly.

“We at Airbus have been studying wind-assisted technologies as a potential energy source for our maritime operations for many years,” said Nicolas Chrétien, head of sustainability & environment at Airbus. “As we embark on an exciting journey with our partners Louis Dreyfus Armateurs and bound4blue, we reaffirm our ambition to explore all innovation pathways to develop more sustainable maritime solutions and further reduce the carbon footprint of our industrial operations.”