Tirranna completes preparations for wind sail installation
In a significant milestone for the Orcelle Horizon project, Tirranna has completed a unique retrofitting process at IMC Shipyard in Zhoushan, China to prepare for the installation of a wing sail.
Prior to docking, extensive preparation and planning had taken place with the yard, finalizing all design documentation (e.g. strength and fatigue analysis) with subcontractor Delta Marin, along with obtaining class approval from DNV. This work has been crucial to ensuring an optimized solution related to both the steel weight and cargo loss.
Having now completed dry-docking the installation of the Wind Propulsion Unit (WPU) is scheduled to take place in Europe during the first quarter of 2025.
Dry-dock checklist:
- Steelwork: Extensive structural modifications are carried out to ensure the vessel has the necessary strength to accommodate the WPU.
- Power and signal cabling: The yard carries out all necessary cabling work to ensure the necessary WPU-vessel interface and minimize the work in 2025.
- Additional work and modifications: An additional X-band radar is installed aft, and the navigational lights arrangement is updated to accommodate the new WPU. In addition, a vessel inclining test is carried out to prepare all necessary stability documentation.
- Crew training preparation: Wallenius Marine, RISE, Wallenius Wilhelmsen, and Oceanbird are currently setting up a crew education program to ensure the crew is well-prepared to operate the new technology.
These modifications are part of Tirranna’s ordinary 5-year docking process, aimed at preparing the vessel with the necessary reinforcements and installing the foundation for the WPU’s folding mechanism. The primary goal of this retrofit is to test and evaluate a full-sized WPU at sea on a real vessel, providing crucial data for the design and optimization of future wing sails and vessels such as the Orcelle Wind.
As the first vessel to undergo this bespoke retrofitting, Tirranna serves as a one-of-a-kind testbed for this potentially game-changing technology. With a length of 230 meters and a capacity of approximately 8000 cars, Tirrana is the perfect vessel to test the concept for the RoRo segment. The insights gained from this installation will be instrumental in refining the design and performance of the WPU, potentially paving the way for the creation of Orcelle Wind a new build optimized for wind as the main propulsion.
