Wallenius Marine partners with Royal Institute of Technology, KTH to continue development of sailing vessels
Focusing on sustainable ships and reduced emissions, Wallenius Marine is continuing its development of sailing vessels and has entered into a new partnership with the Royal Institute of Technology, KTH.
Wallenius Marine has a long history of collaborating with KTH. Our latest mutual project ultimately led to Oceanbird – a concept featuring wing sails for a fully wind-powered car transport vessel.
“If we are to move towards emission-free solutions, we have to develop ships and make use of the environment – in this case, wind. We believe in sailing as a way of reducing a portion of future emissions” says Urban Lishajko, Head of Ship Design, Newbuilding & Innovation at Wallenius Marine.
SailTech, a six-year research collaboration
To build upon what has been achieved so far and to further advance the development of sailing ships, Wallenius Marine and KTH have now initiated a six-year research collaboration, called SailTech.
“Its purpose is to support KTH in their research and development around sailing technology. We want to explore further how to design and operate ships with wing sails to sail as efficiently and safely as possible,” says Urban.
Wallenius Marine is supporting KTH by financing parts of a professorship, a postdoctoral position and an industrial doctoral candidate who, together with KTH’s department for maritime systems, will work on various SailTech research projects.
“By supporting KTH, we can contribute to their research while also pushing development within the field. Wallenius Marine benefits from strong expertise at KTH, where we can make use of the research as we develop our concepts and projects. It will also benefit society at large and contribute to reduced emissions,” says Urban.
An acceleration in sailing-related research
Erik Blackert, Design Manager, Hydrodynamics at Wallenius Marine, obtained his master’s degree from KTH four years ago. He is returning now as an industrial doctoral candidate.
“It’s really exciting to be part of the development of sailing ships. We’re breaking new ground all the time, and I now have the opportunity to work on more theoretical projects that can contribute to pure research,” he says.
Sailing and ship technology have deep roots at KTH
The collaboration with Wallenius Marine has led to an acceleration in sailing-related research.
“The collaboration enables us to build and conduct wind tunnel experiments and test future ship concepts in ways we otherwise wouldn’t have been able to,” says Jakob Kuttenkeuler, professor at the department of maritime systems at KTH.
Together, Wallenius Marine and KTH aim to continue contributing to the development of wind-powered ships. Orcelle Wind is the first vessel being developed based on the Oceanbird concept, in a project led by Wallenius Wilhelmsen. With the PCTC type sailing car carriers, energy consumption and emissions will be significantly reduced.
Erik Blackert, who has been involved in this project, says:
“As I have experience in working with sailing ships in actual projects, I hope to contribute that knowledge to the KTH collaboration. Today, I have more of a holistic perspective on ship design and I understand how everything fits together.”