SHIPPING: EMPOWER THE WIND TO DECARBONIZE

The idea of WISAMO –Wing Sail Mobility- was born in 2020 from a meeting between Michelin Research & Development team and 2 Swiss inventors during a fair dedicated to boating innovations in Geneva, all of them sharing the same vision of "all sustainable" Michelin.

• 2020-2021: from an innovation to a prototype
  
  From March 2020, a dedicated team has been put in pace to develop WISAMO solution inside the incubation program from Michelin Group (MIL) : WISAMO team was born and structures itself for an original project.On 1st June 2021, WISAMO wingsail is officially presented at Movin’On international summit for sustainable mobility, being part of the innovation values of Michelin -the DNAs of the Group.A first step is overcome thanks to the development and the installation of a 100sqm wingsail prototype on French navigator Michel Desjoyeaux sailing boat. It is tested on Neuchâtel Lake in Switzerland before navigating in the maritime environment of the Atlantic Ocean where it is currently used.

• 2022: a new milestone for WISAMO
  
  From January 2022, Michelin continues WISAMO development and forms a key partnership with Compagnie Maritime Nantaise MN – Groupe Sogestran, shipowner and symbolic actor of merchant maritime transportation.In July 2022, WISAMO team leaves Clermont-Ferrand to settle in Nantes in order to get closer to the maritime ecosystem and its key network.Simultaneously, the prototype tests keep on going with Michel Desjoyeaux sailing boat to continue technical developments with a continuous innovation mindset.

• 2023: a conclusive year
  
  In January 2023, the wingsail is officially approved getting an AIP (Approval In Principle) from classification society DNV allowing the installation on a merchant ship from Compagnie Maritime Nantaise - MN.Then a second 100sqm wingsail prototype is implemented on the MN Pelican Ro-Ro ship for several months of usage. The objective is to keep on going with tests in continuation of those already done, the only difference being that the system has been designed to be adapted to deep maritime conditions to serve as testing ground.WISAMO prototype has supported the maritime crossings, travelling 2,476 miles a week during many months in action, which corresponds to several hundred hours of navigation across the Biscay Bay and the Channel between Bilbao (Spain) and Poole (UK).

• 2024 focuses on SMALL wingsail commercialization
  
  100sqm prototype has been removed from MN Pelican Ro-Ro ship and returns of experience feed the technical team to work on scale 1:1 WISAMO wingsail.Michelin plant in Vannes evolves and welcomes the assembly workshops of the Small 170sqm wingsails ready to be implemented.

From Michelin strategy to shipping decarbonization

Demographic, technological and sustainability factors every day create major challenges and profound changes. To adapt, Michelin Group has always been a pioneer exploring new territories and innovating to a more sustainable world.With “Michelin in Motion” strategy, the Group promotes a great balance between People, Performance and Planet. The objective aims at conquering new markets thanks to the rise of new high added value domains, in, around and beyond tyres. And with its new activity introducing a wind propulsion system using wind energy for a maritime mobility, WISAMO fully answers the Michelin Group environmental strategy.