Recently, French shipbuilder Chantiers de l’Atlantique has cut the first steel for OE Corinthian, the first wind-powered cruise ship in the Orient Express Silenseas fleet.
The “OE Corinthian” hybrid sailing cruise ship is the first of two luxury cruise ships ordered by France’s Accor Hospitality Group (Accor) for its subsidiary Orient Express in early 2023.
The new cruise ship is based on the “Silenseas” series of sailing cruise ships, powered by a wind propulsion system and liquefied natural gas (LNG) dual-fuel engines, which can also be converted to use hydrogen fuel in the future, and is expected to be the “world’s largest sailing ship”, with a length of 220 meters, a width of 25 meters, a gross tonnage of 26,600 tons, and flying the French flag.
“The OE Corinthian is the first cruise ship to be equipped with a Solid Sail propulsion system. Solid Sail is a 1,500 m² rigid sail system made of assembled composite panels (including fiberglass, carbon fiber, and epoxy resin, among others) developed for large ships, especially cruise ships. The system was developed by the French shipyard Atlantique and received an Approval in Principle (AiP) from Bureau Veritas (BV) in 2022.
The sail will be suspended from three tilting masts over 100 meters high, ensuring 100 percent propulsion in the suitable weather conditions. The sails are said to overcome the size limitations of fabric sails and have a longer life, while the accompanying collapsible pneumatic equipment is capable of 360-degree rotation, allowing for easy adjustment of sail orientation and adaptation to most wind conditions, thus reducing emissions.
Ahead of the groundbreaking ceremony, the French government has signed a wind propulsion agreement with maritime stakeholders. The agreement recognizes the French government’s support for wind-propelled ships and its commitment to reducing the environmental impact of the maritime industry. The French government has stated that the ultimate goal is to capture 30% of the global market share using French wind propulsion technology.
On the same day of the cutting ceremony, the new prefabrication workshop Pôle Sud Intégré (PSI) was successfully inaugurated at Atlantique Shipyard in France. With a surface area of 11,000 m2, the PSI has twelve overhead cranes, ten semi-gantry cranes and two robotic welding lines distributed in four naves.