Swedish company Berg Propulsion has won a contract for hybrid propulsion on three wind-assisted Louis Dreyfus Armateurs (LDA) ro-ro vessels.

Following delivery by China’s Wuchang Shipbuilding from 2026 onwards, the vessels will carry Airbus A320 jetliner subassemblies from France to the final assembly line in the US. The ships have been designed by Deltamarin with the aim of halving fuel burn and CO2 emissions in transatlantic operations by 2030 compared to a 2023 baseline.

Wind power drawn from six Flettner rotor-sails on each ship’s deck and weather routing optimisation software will help increase wind-assisted time and minimise drag. In conventional mode, the ships will run on dual fuel methanol engines.

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