Advanced Wing Systems Limited (AWS) is transforming maritime transport with scalable wind propulsion technology, addressing decarbonization in a sector responsible for 3% of global CO2 emissions. Our modular wing sail systems deliver up to 30% annual fuel savings per vessel, reducing CO2 emissions by 1,090–1,522 metric tons annually. Designed for retrofits and new builds, they align with the EU's Green Deal, Fit for 55, and the Sustainable and Smart Mobility Strategy, while supporting initiatives such as Zero-Emission Waterborne Transport and the Renewable and Low-Carbon Fuels Value Chain. AWS is advancing its Technology Readiness Levels (TRL), with Model 1 targeting TRL 8 by Q4 2025 and Model 2 by Q3 2026, achieving TRL 9 and full commercialization by 2027. Within five years, we aim to retrofit 400 vessels with over 1,200 sails, saving 485 kilotonnes of CO2 and generating €200M in annual recurring revenue. Backed by a €2.5M EIC Accelerator grant, our €8.5M funding round will drive scaling efforts, create over 50 direct jobs, and contribute significantly to the EU economy by 2030. Our disruptive technology addresses key barriers in traditional Wind-Assisted Propulsion Systems (WAPS), offering low-cost installations (€30,000–50,000 per sail), AI-driven automation, and rapid scalability. By ensuring compliance with EU ETS and FuelEU Maritime regulations and leveraging a cost-efficient leasing model, we make decarbonization accessible to a wider market. Strategic partnerships with Lomar Shipping, Navim Group, and Sustainable Sailing Ltd position AWS at the heart of the EU industrial ecosystem, advancing innovation, maritime decarbonization, and economic growth.

The proposal develops a combination of energy-saving solutions that can be adopted in retrofitting aimed at achieving the 35% of GHG emissions. Two new technologies, i.e. wind assisted ship propulsion and an innovative air lubrication system, will be developed together with other solutions that, although based on already mature technologies, such as operational and hydrodynamic design optimization and ship electrification, have to be expanded to be integrated with the new solutions as well as to cope with the constraints posed by the original ship design. The final objective of RETROFIT55 is to create an advanced web-based Decision Support System (DSS), that fuses together digital twins of the different systems into an integrated digital ship model. The DSS will feature a catalogue of retrofitting solutions that are up-to-date and ready to be deployed at the end of the project and easily extendable afterward while developed and demonstrated at TRL 7-8, suitable for different ship types and operational contexts. The DSS will enable the user to configure the retrofitting by combining different options which are suitable for the specific ship type and comparing them in terms of life-cycle cost, return-of-investment and several KPIs, such as EEXI, CII. Referring to the ZEWT strategy, while primarily contributing to the Design and Retrofit, the implementation of the project will also intersect other topics, such as Use of Sustainable Alternative fuels, Energy Efficiency, Electrification and Digital Green. The consortium brings together universities and research institutions, three developers of the new technologies, a ship design office, software developers, ICT experts, a classification society, a ship-repair company, and two large ship operators.