Following a highly commercially focused Posidonia 2026, Cyprus Shipping News Managing Director Adonis Violaris sits down with Emmanuel Schalit, CEO of OceanWings, to discuss the rapid market evolution of Wind-Assisted Propulsion Systems (WAPS). Moving decisively past the experimental “pilot era,” wind technology is fast becoming a bankable operational necessity driven by relentless fuel volatility and tightening regional carbon structures like the EU ETS and FuelEU Maritime. In this exclusive conversation, Emmanuel shares crucial insights on their highly anticipated July retrofit of a rigid, tiltable wingsail onto the Ultramax bulk carrier Maria Topic in Japan. From leveraging the mature supply chain of the offshore wind industry to utilising advanced algorithmic control and AI to integrate wingsail dynamics with core ship machinery, this interview outlines a clear roadmap for achieving a “negative green premium” and future-proofing the global merchant fleet.
Posidonia 2026 has brought the global shipping community together in Athens at a time when the pressure to decarbonise is higher than ever. Reflecting on your interactions with international shipowners this week, do you feel the industry’s perception of wind-assisted propulsion systems (WAPS) has shifted from an experimental concept to a mainstream operational necessity?
Absolutely. The industry has transitioned from curiosity to deployment. A few years ago, wind-assisted propulsion was often viewed as an interesting innovation project. Today, shipowners are looking at Wind AssistanceWAPS as a practical tool for reducing emissions and more importantly operating costs.
Even though global regulation at the IMO has been delayed, what has changed is the economic context. Fuel remains the largest operating cost for most shipping segments, and recent geopolitical instability has once again highlighted how exposed the industry is to fuel price volatility. WAPS helps create a degree of energy resilience by reducing bunker consumption regardless of the fuel pathway a vessel ultimately adopts.
At Posidonia this year, discussions were far more commercially focused than theoretical. Owners are asking detailed questions about retrofit feasibility, payback periods, route optimisation, and regulatory impact. This is a strong indicator of market maturity.
The industry now also has operational references, such as the Canopée cargo vessel operating for several years using four OceanWings wingsails, with more than 250,000 Nautical miles at sea, proving that modern automated systems can function reliably on commercial vessels. As confidence grows around performance validation and return on investment, we believe adoption will continue accelerating across multiple vessel segments.
Commercial Realities and the Bulk Carrier Retrofit
OceanWings is preparing for a highly anticipated milestone this July: the retrofit installation of a rigid tiltable wingsail onto the Ultramax bulk carrier Maria Topic in Japan. What are the primary engineering and operational lessons you expect to capture from this specific project, and how critical is this installation for proving the commercial viability of retrofitting the global dry bulk fleet?
The Maria Topic project is extremely important because it demonstrates that wind propulsion is no longer limited to niche applications or highly specialised vessels. This is a commercial Ultramax bulk carrier operating in one of the most demanding and operationally constrained sectors of global shipping.
One of the key lessons we expect to reinforce is that even a single OceanWings installation can generate measurable operational value. Equally important is the adaptability of the technology itself. Every vessel has different structural constraints, deck layouts, cargo handling requirements, visibility considerations, and trading patterns. Successful retrofits depend on tailoring the integration approach to the realities of each ship.
This project is therefore not only about aerodynamic performance. It is also about proving that rigid wingsails can be integrated into mainstream bulk carrier operations without compromising commercial functionality.
For the wider dry bulk market, this is a critical step. The global fleet contains thousands of vessels that will remain operational for many years and retrofit solutions will play a major role in shipping’s decarbonisation pathway. Maria Topic helps demonstrate that existing ships can participate in that transition today.
De-Risking the Investment: From AiP to Absolute Confidence
You recently secured an Approval in Principle (AiP) from the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) alongside continuous DNV validations for your aerodynamic evaluation methodologies. How significant are these class approvals in removing the technical skepticism that traditionally prevents conservative shipowners and financiers from investing in wind technology?
The DNV validation is extremely significant because the industry is now moving beyond the question of whether wind propulsion works, and focusing instead on whether performance claims can be trusted at investment level.
Shipowners, charterers, and financiers need confidence that projected fuel savings, emissions reductions, and ROI calculations are based on transparent and independently verified methodologies. That is precisely why the DNV validation of our high-fidelity aerodynamic evaluation methodology is such an important milestone.
Our methodology combines advanced CFD simulations, wind tunnel testing, and operational experience gained over more than a decade of commercial vessel performance evaluation, including the Canopée installation. DNV’s validation confirms that this approach provides a robust and repeatable framework for quantifying propulsion power across multi-wing configurations and different vessel types.
This matters because shipping is becoming increasingly data-driven under IMO and EU regulations. Owners must be able to accurately assess the impact of wind propulsion on EEDI, EEXI, FuelEU Maritime, and overall vessel economics before committing capital.
Ultimately, independent validation helps transform wind propulsion from an interesting innovation into a bankable industrial solution. It reduces uncertainty, strengthens confidence in the business case, and gives stakeholders the trusted performance data they need to scale adoption commercially.
Maximising Efficiency: Algorithmic Control and AI Integration
While the physical design of the two-element wingsail is vital, you have heavily emphasized that the next major leap in fuel savings will come from software, automation, and AI. How does OceanWings utilize real-time algorithmic control to integrate the behavior of the wingsails with the vessel’s other core systems, such as the propeller, rudder, and hull aerodynamics?
Significant wingsail performance gains come from intelligently integrating the wingsail system into the vessel’s overall propulsion strategy and continuously optimising that interaction in real operating conditions.
OceanWings systems are fully automated and designed to adjust dynamically to changing wind conditions, vessel speed, course, and operational constraints. The control system continuously manages wing orientation and aerodynamic settings in order to maximise useful thrust while maintaining safe and efficient vessel operations. While our current algorithmic approach provides high performance, we are now seeing clear proof points that the specialized AI frameworks can provide additional gains that are not attainable with traditional software approaches.
Also, the integration between wind propulsion and the ship’s conventional systems is increasingly important. Wind-assisted propulsion affects not only engine load, but also routing decisions, speed optimisation, and overall energy management onboard. As digitalisation advances, software, AI, and automation will play a growing role in extracting the maximum possible efficiency from every voyage.
The objective is not to replace the ship’s primary propulsion system, but to intelligently reduce the engine power required to maintain operational performance and to allow the shipowner and the charterer to optimize based on the specific metrics that matter to them. We believe this combination of advanced aerodynamics, automation, and operational optimisation will define the next phase of fuel savings in commercial shipping.
Moving Beyond FuelEU Compliance to Commercial Value
With FuelEU Maritime and tighter EU MRV regulations coming into full effect, shipowners face direct financial penalties for high emissions. Rather than viewing wind propulsion purely as an administrative compliance shield, how should owners quantify the long-term asset value protection and return on investment that OceanWings provides?
That is a relevant question given that the UK is starting to include shipping in its own ETS scheme. For now it is limited to domestic voyages, but the UK has been clear that they plan to include international voyages from 2028, unless a global framework is adopted at the IMO.
So compliance is certainly an important driver, but the commercial case for wind propulsion extends well beyond avoiding regulatory penalties. Shipowners increasingly recognise that reducing fuel consumption directly improves the long-term competitiveness and resilience of their assets.
Fuel remains is the largest operating costs in most segments, and wind propulsion reduces exposure to both fuel price volatility and future carbon pricing mechanisms. If anything, the events of the last 3 months have proven that betting on stable and low fuel prices is becoming very risky. Depending on the vessel type, route, and operational profile, payback periods of two to three years are becoming increasingly achievable in this new fuel prices environment.
There is also a broader operational value that is sometimes overlooked. By reducing the load on the main engine, wind-assisted propulsion can help lower engine running hours, reduce maintenance intensity, and potentially extend the operational life of key machinery components. Over time, this contributes to lower lifecycle operating costs across the vessel.
As the industry moves toward more expensive low-carbon fuels such as methanol or ammonia, every tonne of fuel saved becomes even more economically valuable. In that context, wind propulsion becomes a long-term efficiency and asset optimisation strategy.
The Supply Chain and Industrial Scaling Challenge
Moving from bespoke demonstration projects to equipping a substantial portion of the global fleet requires highly scalable manufacturing capability. You have spoken about leveraging the existing supply chain of the offshore wind turbine industry and flat-packing components for assembly near major shipyards in Asia. How is this strategy progressing, and can the maritime supply chain keep pace with a rapid surge in demand?
Industrial scaling is one of the key challenges for the entire wind propulsion sector, but we believe the industry is now entering a much more mature phase. At OceanWings, our strategy has always been to leverage existing industrial capabilities rather than attempt to build an entirely new supply chain from scratch.
There are strong synergies with the offshore wind turbine sector, particularly in composite manufacturing, large-scale structures, automation systems, and industrial assembly processes. Many suppliers already possess the technical expertise and production capacity required for advanced wingsail manufacturing.
But the wind turbine industry is relevant for another reason: Wind Turbines just like wind propulsion systems are large heavy objects. Nobody makes fully assembled wind turbines in a factory and then ships them to the installation site. Only the components are shipped. That is made possible because wind turbines are modular products. Our approach also focuses on modularity and flat-pack logistics, allowing major components to be transported efficiently and assembled at destination, particularly in Asia. This helps reduce transportation complexity while supporting scalable deployment across multiple vessel segments.
Importantly, the maritime supply chain is responding positively because demand signals are becoming clearer. As regulatory pressure increases and more operational references enter service, suppliers, shipyards, and engineering partners are becoming more willing to invest in capacity and expertise.
We believe scaling will happen progressively, but the foundations for industrial growth are now firmly in place. And we want to be able to scale without requiring massive injections of capital.
Navigating Operational Practicalities: Ports and Air Draft
A common operational concern among ship managers regarding rigid wingsails is how they impact port operations, loading cranes, and air draft restrictions under bridges. How does the automated tilting and folding capability of the OceanWings design directly resolve these port-side and navigational constraints?
Operational practicality is critical for commercial shipping. A wind propulsion system must adapt to the realities of ports, cargo handling operations, bridge clearances, and vessel trading patterns without disrupting the core business of the ship.
This is precisely why OceanWings has developed a flexible portfolio approach rather than a one-size-fits-all solution. Different vessel types, whether bulk carriers, cargo vessels, RoRos, Containerships or LNG carriers, each have different operational constraints, deck layouts, and loading procedures. The wingsail configuration must therefore be tailored to the vessel and its trading environment.
The automated tilting capability of OceanWings is a key part of this flexibility. It allows the wingsails to reduce air draft when required, helping vessels navigate bridge restrictions or adapt to port-side operational requirements. Automation also simplifies operation for the crew and ensures the system can respond efficiently to changing conditions.
Ultimately, successful wind propulsion integration depends on maintaining commercial operability. Shipowners need confidence that cargo operations, port access, and navigational flexibility will not be compromised. Our approach is designed around ensuring that wind propulsion works within the operational realities of global shipping rather than against them.
The Future Hybrid Fleet
Looking toward the end of 2026 and beyond, we are facing an era where alternative green fuels remain expensive and scarce. In your vision, how will the ideal deep-sea merchant vessel look over the next decade? Will wind become the primary baseline energy source supplemented by alternative fuels, rather than the other way around?
We believe the most successful deep-sea vessels will adopt a hybrid propulsion philosophy that combines multiple complementary technologies rather than relying on a single solution alone.
Alternative fuels such as methanol, ammonia, and potentially hydrogen will play an important role in shipping’s long-term decarbonisation pathway, but these fuels will remain expensive and operationally complex for some time. The postponement of the IMO NZF last October has further extended that timeline. In that environment, reducing overall energy demand becomes just as important as changing the fuel itself.
That is where wind propulsion has a major role to play. Wind is a free, globally available energy source that can immediately reduce fuel consumption and emissions regardless of which fuel pathway a shipowner chooses. We therefore see wind-assisted propulsion becoming an increasingly standard component of future vessel designs. We should always take into account the fundamental notion of “green premium”. Today the shipping industry is not ready to pay more, i.e. a green premium, to reduce its emissions. That is the challenge of alternative fuels in the absence of a global emissions framework. Wind is fundamentally different because it provides a negative green premium: WAPS reduces operating costs.
At the same time, retrofit capability remains essential because much of the global fleet will continue operating for many years. Projects such as the Maria Topic installation demonstrate that existing vessels can already benefit from advanced wingsail technology today.
In our view, the future fleet will combine cleaner fuels, digital optimisation, and wind-assisted propulsion together as part of an integrated energy-efficiency strategy.
Source: cyprusshippingnews.com
