The first big parts to the full-scale wing prototype, have arrived at the shipyard Oresund Drydock in Landskrona, southern Sweden. Assembly will soon begin, which clearly marks the shift from design phase to realization.
The shiny white, 10-meter-long foundation sides that will connect the wing sail with the ship deck, or the concrete base in Landskrona, laid steadily on the trailer when arriving at the yard. It was gently placed on the big welding area inside the assembly hall.
“I’m excited today. For the past two years it has been PowerPoints, drawings and discussions with the suppliers. Now we will see the real components and can start the assembly. It’s getting real,” says Senior Product Manager Jonas Alván.
Future crew training
The landbased prototype in Landskrona will serve several purposes:
- Test and optimise assembly, to ensure an efficient operation when the RoRo vessel Tirranna will get a wing sail onboard
- Optimise the automation system and trimming
- Test the safety philosophy
- Training facility for future crew
The assembly will start next week, and the prototype will move outdoor to the concrete base around summer.
“This is the moment of truth. We will see if the components fit together as we hope that they will do, and if our instructions and processes that we developed for the assembly, will work, says Landskrona site manager Björn Ohlsson and continues: “It will be some challenges, but having the opportunity to build a full-scale prototype will give us great opportunities for our continuous improvement work for coming generations of the wing sails.”
“Designing a wing sail from the start is an extensive work, and a small change on one component can lead to a lot of changes on another component. It’s like an organism where you need to see the whole picture all the time. And as we are designing and in the quite high pace, we are also manufacturing components at the same time” says Jonas Alván.
A twin for onboard installation
During fall, the wing prototype will be up and running. A few months later, after necessary testing, a twin to the wing sail will be installed on Wallenius Wilhelmsen´s vessel Tirranna. This is part of the EU project Orcelle Horizon.
