The 40-meter-high steel mast is now installed on the foundation in Landskrona.
“I am so happy for our fantastic employees at Oceanbird, who have been fighting for this day for so long, and now we’re here to see this milestone” says Erik Nøklebye, Chairman of the Oceanbird board.
The steel mast will transfer the forces from the wind into the vessel to propel it forward. The mast for the first full-scale prototype has been welded in the assembly hall in the Swedish shipyard Oresund DryDocks. When it was transported out to the test site by the sea and fitted into the slewing ring on the foundation, the whole Oceanbird team and board were holding their breath.
“It’s a little unbelievable, but seeing is believing and we are soon to see it,” says Erik Nøklebye.
Testing is about to begin
The installation went as planned and already the next day, the mast was raised and the testing of the complete control system and hydraulic system with the mast on, begun. Next step is to install composites and the flap (the smaller segment of the wing sail), and then to test the complete wing sail.
“It’s always exciting when we take a big step like this. It has been a lot of PowerPoint drawings, manufacturing and so on, and suddenly we see the real things are coming to life. It’s very pleasant to see” says Oceanbird´s Senior Product Manager Jonas Alván.
“Started big”
Wing 560, named after its size 560 square meters, was developed to in a multi-wing system provide enough thrust for a primary wind-powered vessel. It can also function as a wind-assist on a vessel that is primary powered by an engine.
“We are doing something that hasn’t been done before. It’s groundbreaking. Usually when you innovate, you start small and go big. We started big and we might go smaller later, but it has added to the excitement and also the challenge” says Erik Nøklebye.
