Wallenius Wilhelmsen and its partners have secured EUR 9m in funding from Horizon Europe to support the construction of a wind-powered RoRo sailing vessel called the Orcelle Wind.
Over the next five years, the project will focus on all aspects of planning, building, and operating the vessel, and will involve a team of eleven partners with expertise in areas such as weather routing, vessel design, supply chain management, and crew training. The goal of the project is to make the Orcelle Wind ready for commercial use.
“The Horizon Europe EU funding shows the concept stood up to the scrutiny of the EU funding authorities and that they had the confidence to give it their support” said Roger Strevens, VP Global Sustainability at Wallenius Wilhelmsen.
Orcelle Wind is a wind-powered Pure Car Truck Carrier vessel, capable of carrying over 7,000 cars as well as breakbulk and rolling equipment.
It will be 220 meters long and is part of Wallenius Wilhelmsen's fleet decarbonization strategy with plans to begin sailing in 2026 or 2027. It is also the first vessel from the Oceanbird concept, designed to significantly reduce emissions by up to 90% when all factors are aligned.
“The Oceanbird concept was developed through a partnership approach. We have seen the strength of gathering people from different sectors and companies to cover all perspectives. By working together, we will bring the Orcelle Wind project to life – and by that – take a huge step towards truly sustainable shipping” said Niclas Dahl, Managing Director at Oceanbird.
