The sail can only excel when the ship is designed to sail

On Thursday, March 27th, Dr. ir. Albert Rijkens delivered a lecture at TU Delft, organised in collaboration with KiVi MarTec, on the future of wind-assisted propulsion and its role in maritime decarbonisation.

Dr. Rijkens opened with a discussion on the strategic importance of wind propulsion in the context of the maritime energy transition, underlining its potential to reduce fuel consumption and emissions significantly. He then provided a systems-level perspective on ship design requirements for effective sail integration, emphasizing the need for holistic, multi-disciplinary research. Two case studies were presented, detailing some of the latest research findings.

The session concluded with a lively Q&A session, followed by informal discussions over drinks at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering bar.