On October 24, Wuchang Shipbuilding Industry Group (“WS”), an affiliate of China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC) successfully steel cutted the first wind-assisted RORO vessel built for France’s Louis Dreyfus Shipping Group (LDA).
The vessel has a total length of 169 meters, a beam of 23.32 meters, a depth of 8.5 meters, a structural draft of 6 meters and a service speed of 14 knots. The ship uses methanol fuel power and wind-assisted propulsion system, and is equipped with two methanol fuel main engines and two methanol fuel auxiliary engines.
Wind power drawn from six Flettner rotor-sails on each ship’s deck will make a strong contribution to reduced emissions, with weather routing optimization software also in place to maximize wind-assisted time and minimize drag.
Optimizing propulsion performance at all times will rely on integrated power management and propulsion systems from BERG. LDA has specified the supplier’s extensive engine-agnostic propulsion package for newbuild ships. As well as the complete propulsion train to work with each ship’s main engines, BERG is supplying state-of-the-art controllable pitch propellers with feathering capability.
Following delivery by China’s Wuchang Shipbuilding from 2026 onwards, the innovative vessels will carry Airbus A320 Family jetliner subassemblies from France (Saint-Nazaire) to the final assembly line in the United States (Mobile, Alabama). The ships have been designed by Deltamarin with the aim of halving fuel burn and CO2 emissions in transatlantic operations by 2030 compared to a 2023 baseline.
It is reported that this vessel using the world’s largest rotary sail to provide auxiliary power, will greatly reduce the carbon emissions during operation. Equipped with six chimney-shaped sails on the bow, stern and cabin, it is the largest Ro-RO vessel in the world with wind-assisted propulsion systems.
The relationship between LDA and WS began in 2016. In the past eight years, the two sides have cooperated to build 17 deck transport vessels. The delivered WSs are operating well, and the WSs under construction are also progressing smoothly according to the planned nodes, which can ensure the delivery of quality and on time.