Swedish Transport Administration calls it “one of the most promising projects that we have ever funded”. Read about the Swedish cluster that developed the Oceanbird concept.
The Swedish Transport Administration (Trafikverket) are responsible for the long-term planning of the transport system. Therefore, the government agency have invested about 32 million Swedish crowns in a project that is investigating wind powered shipping. The three-year development project, called wPCC, started in the beginning of 2019 and will continue to mid 2022.
Companies and academia working together
The main partners in the project are Wallenius Marine, KTH Royal Institute of Technology and SSPA. It is an efficient cluster collaboration that draws together experts from the public and private sectors and academia. In September 2020, the collaboration presented the Oceanbird concept.
- Wallenius Marine is the project coordinator, owns the concept and is also contributing design and logistics expertise.
- KTH addresses the challenges within areas such as aerodynamics, sailing mechanics and performance analysis.
- SSPA is contributing with expertise within the development and validation of new testing methods, aerodynamic and hydrodynamic simulation methods and risk simulation.
Promising consortium
“If these kinds of wind powered ships would become common in the industry, it would be a big step ahead for making the maritime sector fossil free. This is definitely one of the most promising project that we have funded. I think the consortium behind the project is a good guarantee that this will be a successful project” says Rein Jüriado, Chief Strategist at the Swedish Transport Administration.
