Inflatable sail to be tested on French Ro-Ro Containership

The ro-ro containership MN Pélican will sail two weekly rotations between Spain and the UK and will be a first installation of the sail system on a merchant ship. The wing surface area will be 100m², and if the trials are successful, a larger wing sail could later be deployed.

MN Pélican, which has been chartered by Brittany Ferries at Compagnie Maritime Nantaise – MN since 2016, operates two weekly rotations between Poole (on the south coast of the UK) and Bilbao (Spain).

Technical tests using the first 100m² wing prototype are simultaneously going ahead on Michel Desjoyeaux’s sailboat. A number of tests were conducted between June and December 2021 on Lake Neuchâtel in Switzerland, with excellent results.

Bolstered by this success, WISAMO is to enter a second phase of more extensive tests with winter maritime conditions in the Bay of Biscay. The sailboat, which will be heading towards Royan, France, will begin its journey at the end of February 2022.

The WISAMO system features an inflatable, automated wing sail which can be fixed on commercial vessels and pleasure boats. The system has a wide range of use, including “close-hauled” (headwind), something Michelin says means it provides one of the widest operating ranges in the market. The wing sail system can be used on all maritime routes. It is retractable for easy access into ports and under bridges. The designers claim it will help achieve fuel efficiencies of up to 20% on fuel per ship.

The wing sail system is particularly suited to ro-ro vessels, bulk carriers, gas carriers and tankers, and is suitable for newbuildings or retrofit.

The WISAMO project’s name comes from the first two letters of the words “Wing Sail” and “Mobility” and the concept was initiated by Michelin’s Research & Development department and two Swiss inventors sharing the Group’s “all-sustainable” vision.