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bound4blue Receives Third-Party Assessed Average Daily Fuel Savings Consistent With Projections

Maritime Activity Reports, Inc.

June 25, 2025

© bound4blue

© bound4blue

bound4blue has underlined the business case for adopting eSAIL wind propulsion technology, with today’s release of BVS assessed operational fuel savings on the Louis Dreyfus Armateurs (LDA) owned Ville de Bordeaux Ro-Ro.

The vessel, chartered by Airbus, had three 22-meter bound4blue suction sail units installed in 2024. BVS assessed the savings over a year, showing an average daily fuel saving of 1.7 metric tons, with peak savings of as much as 5.4 metric tons per day.

These savings are consistent with bound4blue’s initial projections and with the results obtained by LDA using its own methodology, which was grounded in real-time measurements—including fuel consumption data—and incorporated actual weather conditions to ensure accuracy.

The savings reported on the vessel, which transports Airbus subassemblies from Europe to the United States, were achieved without relying on weather routing and did not account for the significant regulatory advantages of adopting wind propulsion.

eSAILs generate significant lift, producing greater propulsive force, and enabling significantly greater savings, per square meter than competing technologies like rigid sails. This provides equivalent savings with six to seven times less surface area, allowing for more compact installations, with reduced deck space requirements, lighter weight, and easier retrofitting across a wide range of vessel types.  

The sails are also highly adaptable, delivering effective performance across diverse wind conditions and directions, from side winds to upwind scenarios. This makes them a versatile and scalable solution for global shipping routes, and very well suited for vessels operating at higher speeds. 

Awareness of eSAIL performance and flexibility is growing within the industry, with recent installations onboard vessels owned by Odfjell, Eastern Pacific Shipping and Louis Dreyfus Company, while significant orders have been placed by Maersk Tankers, Marflet Marine and Klaveness Combination Carriers, amongst others.

Regulatory benefits have been a key driver for uptake, with bound4blue’s suction sails not only reducing fuel consumption but also delivering significant savings relating to compliance. The lower fuel consumption enabled by the units directly reduces greenhouse gas emissions, resulting in measurable benefits under the FuelEU Maritime regulation and the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS). 

As well as reducing emissions and fuel expenditure for vessels throughout the world fleet, wind is the only power source actively rewarded through FuelEU Maritime (Wind Reward Factor), while helping drive down emissions for EU ETS and positively impacting upon CII ratings, amongst other benefits.

bound4blue eSAILs have a typical payback period of less than five years and are suitable for either newbuilds or retrofitting across a diverse array of vessel segments. This includes, but is not limited to, tankers, bulkers, Ro-Ros, cruises, ferries, gas carriers, and general cargo vessels.

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