European aircraft builder Airbus has agreed to install wind-assisted propulsion technology on a ro-ro vessel chartered from Louis Dreyfus Armateurs.
The 21,500-gt Ville de Bordeaux (built 2004) will be fitted with three 22-metre-high eSAILS ahead of a six-month performance monitoring period starting in early 2024.
Spain-based bound4blue, which has developed the technology, claims they create as much as six to seven times more lift than a conventional rigid sail.
