North Sea Port and Louis Dreyfus Company celebrate the completion of the maiden voyage of M.V. Atlantic Orchard, LDC's chartered juice carrier that has been equipped with four 26-meter-high eSAILs®, installed during drydocking in March 2025 in Santander, Spain.
The 26-meter-high suction sails, installed by bound4blue, are said to be the world's largest yet. The unique vessel has now arrived at Louis Dreyfus Company’s port terminal in Ghent, North Sea Port.
"From Santander to Santos, Florida and finally Ghent, this voyage is a testament to our commitment to decarbonise our supply chain and support the global shipping industry’s transition in line with IMO 2050 goals," commented Louis Dreyfus Company on LinkedIn. "This journey represents a bold step forward on our journey toward a lower-carbon future for maritime freight, as this cutting-edge wind-assisted propulsion system has the potential to reduce the vessel’s fuel consumption by at least 10%."
bound4blue eSAILs®
The project is a collaboration between Louis Dreyfus Company, bound4blue and Wisby Tankers. bound4blue installed the four 26-meter-high suction sails in March 2025, during an already planned drydocking for the 10-year survey at Astander Shipyard, Santander, Spain. This installation marked the third this year for bound4blue.
"eSAILs® open an easy, proven and economically beneficial pathway to greener operations for a wide variety of shipping segments, including unique vessel types such as juice carriers. This specialist project is a prime example of how our technology meets customer needs. In this case, the units were lifted into positions originally occupied by four deck cranes, with all electrical and structural work, sail preparation, and full unit programming carried out in one coordinated yard visit,” said José Miguel Bermúdez, CEO and Co-founder of bound4blue.
José Miguel continues: “We are thrilled to partner with ambitious and like-minded companies such as LDC and Wisby Tankers to accelerate shipping’s wind revolution, installing our mature, mechanically simple technology to deliver substantial fuel and emissions savings.”
Images: North Sea Port & bound4blue
