Oceanbird Cargo Ship Brings Sail-Power Into The Future

A new boat design aims to revolutionise shipping and put an end to the era of fossil-driven cargo ships. Oceanbird is a sail-powered concept vessel created by Swedish ship design firm Wallenius Marine. Oceanbird uses aircraft-like wing rigs over traditional sails. The rigs are adapted to a 200 metres long and 40 metres wide cargo vessel and can be adapted which is useful when passing under bridges or if the surface area needs to be reduced due to strong winds. A specially designed hull means an early design based on a car carrier transporting 7,000 vehicles could cross the Atlantic in 12 days. The ship can reduce the amount of emissions on a journey by around 90 per cent when compared to a traditional cargo ship. Besides reducing air emissions, Oceanbird will also decrease sound pollution in the water since there are no sounds from generators or engines but propeller cavitation. This will mean a lot for whales and other marine mammals which depend on hearing for navigation, reproduction and finding food. The aim is to sail the first Oceanbird vessel in 2025.