The Future of Shipping is Now: Key Industry Voices Call for Wind Propulsion at WindForGood.

At the WindForGood summit in Saint-Nazaire, some of the maritime sector’s most respected voices came together to address a pressing question: how can shipping reduce emissions today, not just decades from now? The response from Gavin Allwright, Secretary General of the International Windship Association, was direct and decisive, there is no scalable solution more viable right now than wind propulsion.

He noted that while many in the industry are exploring synthetic fuels and engine retrofits, these alternatives are either prohibitively expensive or years away from mass adoption. Container ships built today will still be sailing in 2050, and without immediate intervention, current fleets cannot meet the IMO’s carbon neutrality targets. Auxiliary wind propulsion, he argued, must be integrated immediately, not as a future solution, but as a present-day necessity.

His perspective resonated deeply with our own conviction. Wingfurl™, our auxiliary wind propulsion system, was built on the belief that scalable retrofits and hybrid solutions can, and must, serve as a bridge between today’s infrastructure and tomorrow’s clean fleet. Unlike speculative technologies, Wingfurl™ is already being piloted and adapted for different vessel types, providing a modular, affordable, and effective pathway to decarbonisation.

Throughout the summit, the consensus was clear: passive propulsion is no longer an experimental idea, it is a strategic imperative. As fuel prices fluctuate and environmental regulations tighten, shipowners and operators must make decisions that align with both long-term viability and short-term compliance.

We left WindForGood encouraged by the strength of industry alignment, and even more determined to push forward with partners and port cities that see wind not only as a tradition of the past, but as a technology of the future. The age of clean shipping has already begun—and wind is once again at the helm.