Three hundred metres above the ocean, a rigid-wing drone flies controlled figure-of-eight patterns at the end of a high-strength tether attached to a ship’s bow. WindTracX SAGL, a Swiss deep-tech startup, is applying aerospace engineering to one of shipping’s hardest decarbonisation challenges, combining wind-assisted propulsion with potential applications in weather intelligence, maritime surveillance and risk reduction.
A sector under mounting regulatory pressure
Shipping accounts for nearly 3% of global greenhouse gas emissions and the regulatory landscape is making that cost impossible to ignore. The IMO’s Carbon Intensity Indicator (CII) requires ships to report and improve operational carbon intensity, with corrective action required for persistently poor ratings.
The EU’s FuelEU Maritime regulation sets tightening greenhouse gas intensity limits through to 2050, while the EU Emissions Trading System now places a direct carbon cost on maritime emissions linked to EU voyages.