Bureau Veritas boards EU-backed WAPS project to 'fast track' low-emission shipping

French classification society Bureau Veritas Marine & Offshore (BV) and technical advisory provider Bureau Veritas Solutions Marine & Offshore (BVS) have joined the Wind for Shipping (W4S) research and development initiative, focused on accelerating the transition toward low-emission shipping.

Launched in January 2025 and funded by the Interreg North-West Europe program, Wind for Shipping is expected to run through July 2028 and concentrate on the engineering, scaling, and adoption of wind-assisted propulsion solutions (WAPS), specifically rotorsails and wingsails.

These solutions are estimated to slash fuel consumption by an estimated 20% to 40%, and, thus, greatly cut greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from commercial vessels.

As part of this endeavor, BVS is set to supply CFD and weather routing calculations, in addition to project-customized on-board measurement data. Through hydrostructure and energy efficiency simulations, BV is to craft modeling methodologies to examine the intrinsic performance of WAPS and their effect on vessels.

Representatives from BV further shared that the company will support the investigation of composite manufacturing processes to allow for large-scale production of wind propulsion systems.

Per Bureau Veritas, the project has gathered twelve partners in total so