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Wind power's struggles to get airborne
17th Mar 2026
A future batch of seven aframax newbuilds for Union Maritime will be fitted with BAR Technologies' WindWings rigid sails. Image: BAR Technologies
Full shipyards do not like complications. As slots are filled into 2029, yards are becoming increasingly reluctant to build vessels that do not meet a standard design.
Vessel operators at RINA’s fifth Wind Propulsion Conference, held in London in February, told how they had worked to convince yards to add wind power to vessels, whether it was newbuildings or retrofits.
Wind installations on ships should be the most straight forward of retrofits, particularly on liquid or dry bulk ships which have open decks with cargo stored underneath.
Bulk ship operators typically operate at lower speeds and not always on the same routes, and are less inclined to shift to alternative fuels, which can be difficult to source, costly to buy, and
