Oceanbird, a wind propulsion joint venture between Alfa Laval and Wallenius Lines, announced the successful installation and sea trial of its Wing560 on a Wallenius Wilhelmsen car carrier in late June.
The installation of Oceanbird’s first onboard prototype saw a 46-metre tall and 14-metre wide tiltable rigid Wing560 wing sail installed on the 230-metre car carrier Tirranna, after DNV granted the design certificate in the first week of June, 2026.
Installation took place at Damen Shipyard in Rotterdam between 21 and 24 June, and the ship has since left the yard to commence its next voyage with the wing sail in place. The Harbour Acceptance Test and Sea Acceptance Test have since been completed.Oceanbird said the installation marks the opening of the car carrier segment to wind propulsion. A team from Oceanbird will sail onboard Tirranna to evaluate the wing’s performance under real-world conditions, monitor usage and collect data.
Wing560 is a rigid sail with a mast and foundation made of carbon steel and the flap and panels made of a PET core with glass fibre composites. Oceanbird suggests power use of around 6-10kW per wing sail during normal operation.
The wing installed on Tirranna is the second Oceanbird has produced, identical to the first, which is permanently installed at the Oresund DryDocks in Landskrona, Sweden.
Tirranna’s crew attended Oceanbird’s first crew training in December 2025, seeing the machinery up close and boosting confidence in operating the system, including understanding situations where it may not need to be stowed
In February this year, Oceanbird announced its first commercial order for a pair of Wing 560 sails for an undisclosed vessel; installation is due in spring 2027.
Commenting on the first vessel installation, Lars Ekren, senior manager – newbuildings and conversions at Wallenius Wilhelmsen, said: “Exploring wind-assisted propulsion builds on a long history of testing new solutions to improve energy efficiency in our fleet. This is a full-scale installation in commercial operation, giving us the opportunity to learn how this technology performs in practice. It’s an important step in evaluating how solutions like this can work alongside our existing efforts as part of a broader approach to reducing emissions.”