Wallenius and Alfa Laval will join forces to make Oceanbird a reality

July 1, 2021

The Oceanbird concept started as a vision to achieve emission free shipping. Today we announce the intent to form a partnership that will make it a reality. Wallenius and Alfa Laval will form a 50/50 joint venture, which will focus on the development and realization of technology for fully wind-powered vessel propulsion.

Wallenius and Alfa Laval have worked together before in order to solve an environmental problem. To stop the spread of invasive species in the oceans, we developed the ballast water treatment PureBallast. Now, we are tackling another environmental problem: CO₂ and other emissions from shipping. The concept of Oceanbird aims at reducing all emissions with up to 90% compared to the most energy efficient vessels today.

Perfect match

Wallenius developed the Oceanbird concept in close cooperation with KTH and SSPA. When we needed a partner for the realisation part of the project, Alfa Laval was the obvious choice. Alfa Laval is active in several areas and have a good reputation within the global maritime industry.

“Besides a successful collaboration in the past, we share the same values around sustainability. Alfa Laval has relevant engineering and production competence as well as close contact with customers,” says Per Tunell, future CEO of the new company AlfaWall Oceanbird. “It was also very important for us to have a reliable global service network, to make sure that vessels of the Oceanbird concept can get necessary service wherever they are in the world.”

The future CEO of AlfaWall Oceanbird will be Per Tunell, currently COO of Wallenius Marine.

Focus on wind power

After approval from authorities, AlfaWall Oceanbird will focus primarily on the wing sail technology and associated control systems. The company will thereby offer a new propulsion alternative to the shipping industry.

“Wind has a key role to play in de-carbonizing the marine industry. Together with Wallenius, we will harness this abundant natural force to meet both climate needs and those of maritime business,” says Peter Nielsen, President BU Marine Separation & Heat Transfer Equipment at Alfa Laval and future chairman of the board.

“We cannot wait until the end of the century to phase out fossil fuels,” says Per Tunell. “We must create realistic alternatives, including the infrastructure for delivering and supporting them. Wallenius is committed to wind propulsion, and we know from the experience with PureBallast that Alfa Laval can help us make it a global reality.”