From passion to profession there is only one step! In any case, this is what the story of Vincent Bernatets, Founder and CEO of Airseas, confirms.
Passionate about the maritime environment and practicing sailing sports, Vincent Bernatets founded Airseas in 2016 with the following premise: why not apply Airbus' know-how on aircraft flight controls to the maritime environment?
Based on environmental values, Airseas then developed a flexible fabric sail system, allowing auxiliary propulsion of ships and thus guaranteeing a 20% reduction in fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions.
The technical specifications of Airseas sailing
Luc Reinhard, Business development and Marketing at Airseas, explains the hardware and software components of the Seawing product:
The hardware part, positioned at the front of the ship, is made up of the flying equipment (sail and pod control) and bow equipment (foldable mast, storage space and winch) allowing the deployment and repatriation of the sail. Luc Reinhard emphasizes “the lightness of the sail” allowing easy storage.
The software part composes the automatic solution: “This solution does not require additional crew. In absolute terms, the training of only one person is necessary for the solution to function properly. The captain will be able to operate the sail with the simple press of a button. To assist him, we provide a decision support screen which analyzes and broadcasts live data (weather, winds, ship and sail positions) informing him when the conditions are favorable for the use of the sail. are reunited. In addition, the software part is made up of so-called “eco-routing” software, making it possible to propose new navigation routes in order to maximize the use of sailing and therefore fuel savings, by favoring the best wind conditions. The crew can then use the equipment in optimal conditions, while keeping the same planning constraints.“
Once in flight, the sail makes movements similar to the shape of a lying eight. This dynamic flight helps generate more power, improve traction and therefore reduce fuel consumption and emissions.
The Seawing system is also compatible with all types of commercial vessels, as long as there is space for the installation and proper operation of the equipment at the front of the vessel.
Pushing innovation in aeronautics
Airseas customers:
- Airbus: at the end of 2020 Airseas will install the first commercial product developed, a 500 m2 sail
- “K” line (Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha Ltd.), Japanese shipowner: at the end of 2021 Airseas will carry out the installation of their standard product, a 1000 m2 sail
Since its creation, Airseas has led the project of carbon-free and digitalized maritime transport and has relied on the International Maritime Organization (IMO) to push for this change.
In fact, the IMO has summoned the shipowners to decrease by 2020 their sulfur oxide emissions at 0.5%, forcing professionals to look at new solutions, such as the Airseas Seawing.
Likewise, the IMO said it was pushing its demands even further by asking for a 40% reduction in CO2 emissions by 2030, taking 2008 as a base year.
Finally, the IMO has already announced that it wants a reduction of 70% in CO2 emissions in 2050, still taking 2008 as a reference.
In this context, a multitude of green technologies are emerging, but quickly come up against the constraints of accessibility and autonomy.
Luc Reinhard tells us “an additional advantage of the Airseas solution is that by reducing the energy requirements of the engines, it makes new engine propulsion technologies (electric and hydrogen for example) much more accessible”.
To know more : https://www.airseas.com/
