World’s 1st wind-powered hybrid industrial cargo ship wins Ship of the Year Award

Neptune Marine, a Dutch provider of maritime solutions, has won the Ship of the Year Award 2023 for Canopée, a double-propelled open-top roll-on/roll-off (RoRo) vessel with wind-assisted marine propulsion.

The award was announced on November 6 at the Maritime Awards Gala held ahead of the Europort 2023 exhibition for the maritime sector in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.

The ship is owned by the shipping company Alizés, a joint venture firm set up between Zéphyr & Borée and JIFMAR Offshore Services.

The Canopee is the first hybrid industrial cargo ship powered by wind. The combination of diesel propulsion and wind assistance on a RoRo vessel of this size — 121 meters long and 22 meters wide — is said to mark a real step forward in the decarbonization strategy for industrial shipping.

With its automated, lowerable four wings provided by French company AYRO, the ship aims for a reduction in fuel consumption of on average around 30%, therefore also reducing its CO2 footprint.

The open-top RoRo vessel is specifically engineered to transport components and fuel for Arian rockets from France to French Guiana.

“This groundbreaking vessel not only symbolizes the epitome of Dutch maritime excellence but also signifies a significant step forward in international maritime trade,” according to Bachmann electronic GmbH, a company that supplied the vessel with processor modules from the M200 series.