secretary, Author at IWSA

28/02/2026 by secretary

The ship.energy survey 2026 has been published and the IWSA Secretary General Gavin Allwright was happy to share some reflections on the turbulent past 12 months and thoughts on the pathway forwards that our industry will be navigating this year.

As means of an introduction to his comments in the survey, he states that:

“This annual survey is a great opportunity to collate the perspectives of many pioneering colleagues and it is a privilege to be included among such a line up of thought leaders.

🌐 While we are all coming to the survey from different perspectives, there is quite some convergence on the obvious need for clarity and certainty in policy and regulation, especially on the global scale.

💸 There is appetite among all stakeholders for investment in low emissions fuels and technologies and that is borne out in the wind propulsion segment.

🚢 We are approaching the 100 large ship wind-installation mark (we have surpassed that if we include smaller vessels), around 5 million dwt and a pipeline of 120+ installations on order or under construction, but this needs to scale quickly to reach the IMO strategy goals.

🔮None of us have a crystal ball, but I think we all agree that we have the tools to do the energy transition job, though we disagree on just how that 🍪 will crumble.

🚤 The final imperative is speed. We really need to pick up the pace on delivery. Focusing on shovel ready solutions that can be unfurled and deployed without further delay is critical. We have been talking a good transition up to now, but it is past time that we 💩 or get off the 🚽

Read the survey here; ship.energy survey 2026

26/02/2026 by secretary

CEVA Logistics, the logistics arm of CMA CGM, has introduced wind-powered shipping services as part of their FORPLANET low-carbon logistics offering.

This is another market indicator that recognises that primary wind vessels are increasingly being welcomed into the global fleet, with five vessels in operation over 400gt and ten more (cargo and cruise) on order or under construction.

Press Release

25/02/2026 by secretary

This week saw the Human Element, Training and Watchkeeping (HTW12) meeting at the IMO Headquarters in London. The primary focus concerning wind propulsion was the inclusion of wind propulsion into the terms of reference for the development of interim guidelines for the training of seafarers. At the meeting, we supported the submission HTW 12-7-3 Proposal for consideration of the terms of reference of the Working Group on the Development of Training Provisions for Seafarers on Ships
Using Alternative Fuels and New Technologies submitted by Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands (Kingdom of the), Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and the European Commission

Our Secretary General, Gavin Allwright was also asked to present about current wind propulsion training developments at a side event on Tuesday, highlighting the growing development of training materials from the French Maritime Academy ENSM, the CrewWind developed by the French wind propulsion cluster, Association Windship as part of the Digi4mere project which is a familiarisation module available online from the IMO Future Fuels and Technologies webpage, simulators available at Warsash Maritime Academy, UK, the WAPS-IT training program being developed in Norway, and led by SINTEF and the Enkhuisen Maritime Academy in the Netherlands, providing training on traditional primary wind vessels along with a wind-assist technology familiarisation course.

HTW12 – work schedule

19/02/2026 by secretary

It was a great pleasure to welcome David Osborn, Director of the Maritime Environment Division of the International Maritime Organisation as the keynote speaker for our Fifth Wind Propulsion Conference, held in association with the Royal Institution of Naval Architects. His message of continued efforts to facilitate the delivery of the 2023 net zero strategy, that we need to use all policy and technology tools in box and that wind propulsion is an important part of that toolbox.

The International Maritime Organization 2026-27 World Maritime Day theme is ‘From Policy to Practice: Powering Maritime Excellence’ and the wind propulsion sector is 100% aligned with that, putting a safe, clean, just, equitable and profitable transition for the shipping sector at the heart of the equation. With around 100 large vessels in operation, 5 million dwt+, we have a solid foundation for rapid scaling, so now we scale!

18/02/2026 by secretary

This years’ Wind Propulsion Conference was very successful with 240 wind propulsion experts, shipowners, tech suppliers and other maritime stakeholders. A big thank you to our collaborator and host the Royal Institution of Naval Architects and also a big thank you to all of the paper and pitch presenters, moderators, panelists and of course the event sponsors, DNV, Vaisala, LR, MOL and Finocean along with the booth exhibitors FT Technologies, VAF Instruments and MAURIC.

The take away from this conference is that the wind propulsion technology segment is on the edge of the ‘hockey stick’ inflection point, that we are moving beyond the issues of verification and performance evaluation challenges and heading towards a faster period of scaling and deployment. Standard approaches are being developed in validation, performance, safety and training and standardised guidelines will be proposed for these over the next 1-2 years.

Thank you to all who attended and watch this space for event announcements going forward!

10/02/2026 by secretary

The world’s first 6 rotor sail installed Ro‑Ro vessel, the “Spirit of Toulouse” has been built and launched at the Wuchang Shipbuilding (CSSC) yard in China for the Louis Dreyfus Armateurs Group.
The 169m vessel is methanol dual fuel in combination with wind propulsion providing an estimated 15-20% of the propulsive energy for the ship. Two other vessels, the “Spirit of Mobile” and the “Spirit of Mirabel” are also under construction at the yard.
Read more…

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