French maritime firm Louis Dreyfus Armateurs (LDA) Group became the latest member of the International Windship Association (IWSA) to help further the development of these primary renewable solutions.
“We are very excited by the development of wind solutions as a key answer to the decarbonisation challenges we are facing today and it is only natural for us to join the International Windship Association in its drive to further develop these technologies,” Edouard Louis-Dreyfus, LDA President, said.
LDA Group owns, charters and operates over 100 vessels worldwide and has been searching for ways to significantly reduce emissions along with their customer Airbus.
The positive results garnered from the testing of the Airseas kite system has led to the decision to have one permanently fitted on board the 21,500 ton MV Ville de Bordeaux from 2020 onwards, a RoRo cargo vessel dedicated to the transport of Airbus parts around Europe.
Also, in early 2019 LDA initiated the design of a large transoceanic RoRo vessel with full integration of wind assisted propulsion and plans to continue development work in this field.