Oceanbird has completed the installation of Wing560 on Wallenius Wilhelmsen’s 230-metre car carrier Tirranna. The company has since then been finalising the retrofit and completed a harbour acceptance test (HAT) and sea acceptance test (SAT).
DNV granted the design certificate in the first week of June this year, verifying the class society’s approval on safety, regulatory compliance and that Wing560 meets the applicable technical requirements for Tirranna.
Oceanbird CEO, Amrit Bhullar: ‘This is a pivotal moment for us, and it is just the beginning. Our team has worked incredibly hard to get here and we are so proud of the talent, research and dedicated work behind this prototype. We are very excited to see Wing560 perform at sea so we can prove the value of our efforts. This installation is the next step in our journey to create wind propulsion systems.’
Also read: Oceanbird lands first commercial wing sail order
First onboard prototype
The installation took place between 21–24 June 2026 at Damen Shipyard in Rotterdam, and Tirranna departed the yard on 24 June to begin its next voyage equipped with the tiltable rigid wing sail. As of 1 July, 2026 the HAT and SAT have been completed.
As Oceanbird’s first onboard prototype, this achievement signals, not only Oceanbird’s tangible entry into the market, but the opening of the car carrier segment to wind propulsion enabled by Oceanbird’s stringent safety features and redundancies.
Also read: VIDEO: AiP for wing sails of wind-powered Oceanbird concept
Wing560
The Wing560 stands 46-metres tall and 14-metres wide, contributing the surface area needed to provide thrust to such a large vessel. An Oceanbird team will sail with Tirranna to collect performance data, monitor usage, and evaluate the wing’s efficiency under real operating conditions under a limited period.
‘Exploring wind-assisted propulsion builds on a long history of testing new solutions to improve energy efficiency in our fleet,’ states Lars Ekren, Senior Manager Newbuildings and Conversions at Wallenius Wilhelmsen. ‘This is a full-scale installation in commercial operation, giving us the opportunity to learn how this technology performs in practice. It’s an important step in evaluating how solutions like this can work alongside our existing efforts as part of a broader approach to reducing emissions.’
Picture: The first Wing560 has been installed on car carrier Tirranna (photo David Falk, Göteborgs Hamn, supplied by Oceanbird).
