CREwWIND

Developing clean and low-carbon maritime transport is one of the major challenges of this decade in order to fulfil the 2015 Paris Agreement the goal of which is to limit global warming to well below 2°C, and preferably 1.5°C, compared to pre-industrial levels.

One value proposition that is able to create a virtuous cycle is the systematic use of wind energy to propel ships. Sailing is a 7,000-year- old practice. It relies on a fully renewable energy resource that is widely available on the planet. Having previously used all kinds of sails woven in soft materials, the maritime industry of the 21st century is reinventing the merchant sailing ship with new technologies and new materials that combine the laws of aerodynamics with those of hydrodynamics better than ever before. These technologies can be deployed on the majority of existing ships, and easily find their place in the design of new ships.

However, one of the remaining barriers to the deployment of these solutions lies in the training of seafarers, as there is very little training available to prepare future operators for the use of wind powered merchant ships.

In fact, the merchant navy abandoned the use of propulsion systems almost a hundred years ago. Currently developed propulsion systems, in particular thin and thick profile rigs, wings, kites, rotors and suction wings, will be largely automated. However, for reasons of safety and optimisation of navigation, it is necessary to integrate into the syllabus of seafarers essential notions linked to aerodynamics and hydrodynamics, transmission of forces, knowledge of technologies and their management or even optimisation of routing.

CrewWIND has been developed to ensure that, in the short term, the seafarers have sufficient technical knowledge to understand the behaviour of a vessel equipped with wind propulsion, by offering an online tool that minimises crew mobilisation time and the associated costs.

The aim of  CREwWIND is to make available to as many people as possible an e-learning training module that familiarises them with the operation of wind-powered vessels.

At the end of the course, trainees will be able to:

• Describe how different wind energy systems work

• Identify the impact of their use on a ship

• Describe the means of optimising wind propulsion on a ship

The module will also help to:

• Support the adoption of wind propulsion by shipowners, by making it easier for the crew to understand these systems

• Build a knowledge base on which technology developers can now draw, in order to provide subsequent training adapted to their own propulsion system

The aim is to reach as many seafarers as possible, as well as non-sailing personnel whose understanding of ship propulsion systems is a real asset, given that their maritime technical background enables them to grasp the concepts presented in this module without any prior refresher course.