Michelin WISAMO

WISAMO (Wing Sail Mobility) is Michelin's wind-assisted propulsion business, part of the Michelin group headquartered in Clermont-Ferrand, France. It develops an inflatable, fully retractable and automated wingsail for commercial ships, workboats and yachts.

The sail is a fabric envelope inflated around a self-supporting telescopic mast, with fibreglass composite structure and a carbon fibre mast. It retracts fully for port calls and for passing bridges and canals. An automated control system adapts the sail to wind direction and strength, with a safe mode, and can be monitored from a tablet or smartphone. The current S-WING has 170 m² of sail area and stands 26.1 m above deck when deployed, or about 3 m when lowered. A larger XL-WING is in development.

In February 2023 the design received what DNV described as the first Approval in Principle for an inflatable wingsail. A 100 m² prototype was then trialled for several months on the ro-ro MN Pelican, operated by Compagnie Maritime Nantaise, in the Bay of Biscay. A 170 m² wingsail was selected for a new patrol vessel for France's maritime affairs directorate (DGAMPA), with installation planned for early 2027 and an expected fuel saving of about 15%.