Wind-assisted propulsion systems (WAPS) specialist bound4blue has announced it has closed a $44 million funding round. In a statement issued today (9 December), Barcelona-based bound4blue said the round, led by investment platform OCTAVE Capital, brings together new investors, including Motion Ventures, the Odfjell family office, and ReOcean Fund – led by the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation and Monaco Asset Management – alongside existing investors Shift4Good, GTT Strategic Ventures, KAI Capital and CDTI (Innvierte SICC), who strengthened their commitment to the company. ‘This round signals a new phase for bound4blue,’ said José Miguel Bermúdez, CEO & Co-Founder of bound4blue. ‘Earlier stages focused […]

Lomar Shipping’s venture capitalist lomarlabs has informed ship.energy that it is collaborating with Advanced Wing Systems on a ‘containerised’ wind-assist system designed for global merchant shipping. In a statement sent to ship.energy today (9 December), Lomar said that the system is deployed from a standard 40-foot container. It uses artificial intelligence (AI) to optimise the setting of the collapsible wing sail for the precise wind conditions. The sails can then be retracted when not in use. According to Lomar, this set-up allows shipowners to trial wind propulsion without permanent and costly vessel modifications, and system can be leased. Greg Johnston, […]

Finland’s Deltamarin has received a total of five Approvals in Principle (AiPs) from DNV and Lloyd’s Register (LR) for its next-generation vessel designs, including approval for a 20,000 cubic metre (cbm) LNG bunkering vessel which will be able to supply LNG at scale to a range of large vessels. The AiPs granted by DNV include a hybrid and wind-powered 9,500 cbm Liquefied Ethylene Gas Carrier. Designed to operate in Ice Class 1A areas with ice up to 80 centimetres thick, the design features a ‘green dual-power system,’ which combines battery-hybrid technology with wind-assisted propulsion. According to Deltamarin, the design represents […]