Solid Sail approved to help reduce cruise ship emissions

Bureau Veritas (specialising in testing, inspection, and certification) has delivered an Approval in Principle (AiP) to Chantiers de l’Atlantique for its sailing propulsion system, Solid Sail, tailored for the large ships market.

Solid Sail is a 1,200 m² rigid sail made of composite panels assembled together, which was developed specifically for large vessels. The system overcomes the usual size limitations of standard fabric sails. Moreover, the rigidity of the sail panels induces less flapping and therefore increases the estimated life compared to a soft sail.

Bureau Veritas (BV) has been involved from the early stages and says this AiP assures the industry that this new technology can be safely used and is ready for the next phase of its development and installation onboard.

Increasing the energy efficiency of cruise ships and lowering their impact on the environment are two of the main objectives of Ecorizon, Chantiers de l’Atlantique’s R&D 14-year old program dedicated to ship energy and environmental efficiencies. This final validation step paves the way for the commercialisation of Solid Sail and its installation on large cruise ships.

“The concept of Solid Sail is the first of its kind, and is the most advanced and innovative solution of sailing propulsion of the large ships market,” says Frédéric Grizaud, senior vice president at Chantiers de l’Atlantique. “The integration on board a passenger ship of such an innovative solution is only possible thanks to the tremendous collaborative work done with Bureau Veritas on its new rules on Wind Assisted Propulsion.”