In keeping with its purpose of pioneering sustainable aerospace and supporting production ramp-up, Airbus is adopting an innovative sail technology to enable one of its chartered cargo vessels crossing the Atlantic to save on fuel and cut down on carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions.
Airbus will equip one of its vessels used to transport aircraft subassemblies, chartered from shipowner Louis Dreyfus Armateurs (LDA), with a wind-assisted propulsion technology that captures wind energy to generate thrust.
The Ville de Bordeaux regularly ferries A320 Family subassemblies from Europe to Mobile, Alabama, for final assembly. LDA will equip the vessel with three eSAILs. This autonomous suction sail system, developed by Barcelona-based bound4blue, is expected to deliver fuel and CO2 emissions savings of 560 tons and 1,800 tons, respectively, compared to the Ville de Bordeaux’s current performance. That’s the equivalent emissions of over 700 diesel cars running for over one year, based on average fuel consumption of 6 liters/100 km.
bound4blue develops automated wind-assisted propulsion systems as a turnkey solution for all shipowners and shipping companies seeking to reduce fuel costs and polluting emissions. The company’s eSAIL system is a validated solution for saving fuel and emissions, completely autonomous, with low maintenance and easy installation onboard, being the most cost-efficient wind propulsion technology today.
David Ferrer, CTO of bound4blue, said: “After having implemented and proven our technology on three ships already, we’re excited to install our 22-meter eSAILs on Ville de Bordeaux. This deployment will mark the first-ever fixed suction sail installation on a Ro-Ro (roll-on, roll-off) ship, demonstrating that suction sails can be deployed on ships with high weather decks and large windage area uncompromising the vessel’s stability.”
The company, founded in 2014 with a vocation focused on the renewable energy sector in the maritime field, has its headquarters in Cantabria in Spain, and offices in Barcelona and Singapore. The company has installed its eSAIL system on three ships, and signed additional agreements with other shipowners like LDA, Marubeni Corp, and Odfjell to install the system on their fleets.
Like smoke stacks
The eSAIL is a fully autonomous system that builds on the suction sail concept invented in the 1980s by the Jacques Cousteau Foundation. Like smoke stacks, the lightweight, 22-meter-high structures help push a ship along, partially relieving its main engines.
How do they work? The eSAIL is a wind-assisted propulsion system that uses suction to create lift. The technique creates as much as six to seven times more lift than a conventional sail, with minimal power consumption and mechanical complexity.
The three eSAILs will be fitted to the Ville de Bordeaux ahead of a six-month sea trial scheduled for the first quarter 2024. Upon successful completion, it will be used on the crossing between Saint-Nazaire in France and Mobile, Alabama.
New elevator and upper cargo deck
With operational sustainability in mind, the Ville de Bordeaux is also being fitted with a new elevator and upper cargo deck. The combination means the vessel can carry two additional single-aisle aircraft sub assembly sets—wings, fuselage, engine pylons, horizontal and vertical tailplanes—between Europe and the United States. It brings to six the number of sets that can be transported on each leg of the journey.
The extra capacity will reduce the crossings needed to support Airbus’ commercial aircraft production, which is aggressively ramping up in the United States and elsewhere. Fewer crossings mean lower overall emissions, which are further reduced by the adoption of bound4blue’s eSAILs.
Fitting the eSAILs to the Ville de Bordeaux is a first step in meeting Airbus’ long-term ambition. Thanks to new, more efficient vessels entering its maritime fleet from 2026. By 2030, Airbus is committed to reducing CO2 emissions from its maritime operations by 50% compared to a 2015 baseline.
Meanwhile, the European Union also funded the installation of eSAILs on the Ville de Bordeaux.
“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 and environment at Airbus. “As we embark on an exciting journey with our partners LDA 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. This technology looks promising, and we are eager to start testing it in real conditions by the end of the year.”
“At Louis Dreyfus Armateurs, we are committed to supporting the decarbonization of the shipping industry, achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050,” said Mathieu Muzeau, LDA transport and logistic general manager. “Wind-assisted propulsion is one of the solutions we believe will help us reach this objective. To determine the best technology for our operations, we are eager to identify and test various forms of wind-assisted propulsion, including rotating vertical cylinders, flexible sails, rigid sails, and wings.”
For more than 170 years, the LDA Group has been offering players in the maritime world innovative industrial solutions with integrated services ranging from the design and management of ships to shipping operations in transport fields, logistics, and marine industrial solutions. Present worldwide with more than 2,600 employees and around 100 vessels, LDA is a French family-owned group. (Story and photo courtesy of Airbus)