Eastern Pacific Ties Wind-Sail Financing Repayments to Verified Fuel Savings

EPS

Eastern Pacific Shipping’s first wind-assisted vessels are also the first projects funded through a model that makes repayment depend on measured fuel savings. The arrangement puts the performance of the equipment at the center of financing: EPS can receive up to 100% of the upfront cost, while payments are calculated against fuel and regulatory savings verified for the projects.

The two ships are Pacific Sentinel and Pacific Sunstone, each fitted with three 22-metre suction sails. They are the first vessels in the Singapore-based company’s fleet to adopt wind-assisted propulsion. The Fund for Energy Efficiency Technologies (FEET) is financing the installations in its first deployment. AIM Horizon Investments manages the fund, with the Global Centre for Maritime Decarbonisation (GCMD) advising on decarbonisation.

Repayment depends on measured performance

For shipowners, the structure addresses a practical challenge in adopting efficiency equipment: the cost is incurred before its operating benefit can be established. FEET offers upfront financing for eligible technologies, then links payments to savings demonstrated by the equipment. That makes the quality of measurement central to the arrangement. If savings are not verified, the basis for calculating payments is not established.

The approach also means project economics are tied to operating data rather than an assumed fuel reduction. Fuel consumption can vary with operating conditions, so a comparison needs to account for factors beyond whether the sails are in use. The method used for these vessels was developed through earlier work by GCMD and EPS aboard Pacific Sentinel. The trials examined the effect of the sails while the ship traded in the Americas between May and September 2025.

During that four-month period, researchers collected 276 million data points. They assessed 203 valid transitions between sail-on and sail-off operation to isolate the technology’s effect on fuel consumption from changes in operating conditions. The source does not report a fuel-saving percentage or a total repayment amount. Instead, it says savings for future projects will be verified before payments are calculated.

Evidence underpins the financing model

The analysis method has undergone independent review. That review and the planned verification process matter because the repayment formula depends on a defensible estimate of what the sails save. The trials provide a measurement framework for the two projects; the article does not say that a particular savings result has already been confirmed for either vessel.

Wind-assisted propulsion uses wind to contribute to a vessel’s movement, reducing the work required from its main propulsion system under suitable conditions. Suction sails are equipment installed on deck, and the three 22-metre units on each ship make this a fleet deployment rather than a shore-side trial. The available details do not specify the vessels’ routes after installation, the equipment’s operating schedule, or how the ships’ savings will be reported.

That distinction is useful for operators assessing the case for similar equipment. A technology’s performance on one ship or voyage does not, by itself, establish the savings another installation will deliver. Trading patterns and operating conditions are part of the measurement challenge; the trial’s focus on valid sail-on and sail-off transitions was intended to separate the sails’ contribution from those changes. The financing structure therefore depends both on equipment performance and on a process capable of measuring it.

Partners aim to extend the structure

FEET is backed by the Development Bank of Japan, DBS Bank and ING. The partners aim to extend the financing model to other energy-efficiency technologies across shipping fleets. No additional technologies, vessel projects, rollout timetable or funding totals were specified.

For fleet managers, the development offers a financing example to track as the projects generate verified results. The central operational question is how much fuel the suction sails save under the vessels’ actual conditions, and how that result translates into payments. EPS chief executive Cyril Ducau said: “Decarbonisation moves faster when the technology, the data, and the financing come together.” The next concrete measure will be the verified savings used to calculate repayment.