Classification society Bureau Veritas (BV) is joining the International Windship Association (IWSA). This non-profit organisation brings together wind propulsion projects and research organisations and promotes wind as a viable and increasingly economic option for commercial vessels.
'A key focus area for BV is supporting safety and new technology to reduce emissions from shipping – and one area we are looking at is wind powered, or wind assisted, shipping,' said Panos Koutsourakis, Global Technology Leader, Sustainable Ships for Bureau Veritas. 'The time is right to further develop the wind propulsion sector and for us to help in supporting the development of safe performance objectives. The extensive work that IWSA has been doing in this field makes it the natural choice to work with and to support.'
Big Strides in Wind Propulsion
There have already been big strides forward over the last couple of years, with the emergence of companies engaging, testing and installing wind propulsion systems, such as Maersk, Renault, MOL, Viking Lines, Chantiers De L’Atlantique and Wallenius Marine. This pace of development is slated to continue, with an EU commissioned report on the wind propulsion market in 2017 predicting up to over 10,000 wind propulsion installations by 2030.
Wind Propulsion Hubs
IWSA aims at establishing regional wind propulsion "centres of excellence" or "hubs" around the world. The first one, IWSA Europe – Atlantic, was set up over a year ago in Nantes, France, and has been busy clustering together wind propulsion projects, ship builders, engineering and design companies along with maritime associations and regional government. This will be followed this year with clusters in the North Sea & Baltic, Pacific and North America.
