The move is a further warning of what may happen if shipping doesn’t get a move on, environmentally. The latest salvo launched at the maritime sector, without which world trade would grind to a halt, is the European Plan to include the global shipping business in its Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) from 2022. Rarely a day goes by without mention of shipping’s carbon footprint and the slow progress in reducing it. Growing environmental concerns are providing another boost to the fledgling sector. What has almost certainly helped to propagate this rapid development is shipping’s digital transformation, enabling real-time sensoring, accurate measurement, performance monitoring, and robust ship-shore connectivity. Over the past five years, its membership has grown from around 10 to more than 100. And if membership of the sector’s London-based trade body, the International Windship Association, is anything to go by, interest is surging forward.
There are many concepts: from soft sails to hard sails from wings and foils to kites. A wide range of projects are at various stages of development, and LR is involved in many of them. Traditionally viewed with benign scepticism by shipping folk based on wind variance and the practical challenges of putting sails on cargo ships, today’s smart wind propulsion systems are rapidly climbing the decarbonisation agenda, both for new and existing vessels. Harnessing the power of the wind to supplement thrust developed by ships’ engines is now a key focus as shipping’s decarbonisation process becomes more pressing.