The Trade Wings 2,500 is an innovative container ship with a capacity of 2,500 TEU (Twenty-Foot Equivalent Unit), designed jointly by VPLP Design (France), Alwena Shipping (France), SDARI (China) and AYRO (France) amd has received Approval in Principle from Bureau Veritas.
With an overall length of 197m and a breadth of 32m, the vessel offers a deadweight of 32,500 metric tons. It combines a wind-assisted propulsion with six Oceanwings® and an LNG-electric propulsion with pods.
The wingsails are installed on a vertical sliding mechanism to retract them partially while the vessel is in port, thus minimizing the impact on cargo operations. The LNG storage tank is based on GTT’ Mark III containment system and the LNG power plant is designed with pure gas 4-strokes gensets only.
This architecture is a flexible platform offering possible upgrade to decarbonated fuels in the future such as Ammonia or Hydrogen.
Suitable for short sea shipping operations or feedering in Europe, Central America, Caribbean Islands and China, the Trade Wings 2,500 can also operate on transatlantic trades.
The design minimises time in port operations, as manoeuvrability is increased with the Pods, and the hatch coverless design further speeds up cargo operations.
On a typical transatlantic route of 4,000 Nm, the Trade Wings 2,500 will save on average 35% CO2 – equivalent emissions compared to a conventional design, with a 2-stroke engine, single shaft and without wingsails, at the same speed.
Out of these 35% savings, the Oceanwings® accounts to 57%, the optimised LNG thermal propulsion delivering the remaining 43% savings.
