Seatrade Maritime: Oceanbird bags first commercial order

Oceanbird, Wallenius Lines and Alfa Laval’s wind propulsion joint venture, announced the first commercial sale of its Wing 560 wing sails.

The order from an undisclosed owner is for two Oceanbird Wing 560 wing sails for retrofit in Europe in early 2027. “This order fills the first two available production slots in Europe and is marking the beginning of Oceanbird’s commercial journey toward large-scale wind propulsion,” the company said.

Oceanbird inaugurated a land-based prototype of Wing 560 in southern Sweden in August 2025, a rigid wing sail 40-meters in height and 14-meters wide. A second sail was assembled alongside the prototype ahead of its planned installation on the 2009-built 30,000 dwt vehicle carrier Tarranna in 2026. Tirranna had the wing sail’s foundation installed during its routine drydocking in 2024 in preparation for its upcoming retrofit.

Oceanbird said it was planning to commence serial production in 2026 and was exploring expansion into China, a popular move among wind propulsion system manufacturers looking to boost production.

CEO Amrit Kaur Bhullar, who took up the role at the beginning of 2026, said of the new order: “This is a proud moment for everyone involved. It proves that wind propulsion is not just a concept — it’s a viable, scalable solution for sustainable shipping”.

The retrofit of Tirranna forms part of the EU-funded Orcelle Horizon project which has brought together 11 partners to develop two Wallenius Wilhelmsen vessels as demonstrators of wind propulsion technologies. Findings from Tirranna will prepare the multi-wing newbuild vessel Orcelle Wind for contracting, targeting efficiency improvements of 50% over an equivalent regular ro-ro vessel.