"Ship of the future" runs on waves, wind, and sun

Scandinavian shipping company Wallenius Wilhelmson is setting its sights on ships that will bepowered entirely by renewable energy.

It is the ship of the future - powered by the sun, wind and waves. The futuristic vessel has no conventional engines, uses no fossil fuels and releases no harmful emissions into the atmosphere or pollution into the sea.

The first ship to use the technology will be a cargo vessel that will transport up to 10,000 cars from Britain to Australia, New Zealand and other countries. If successful, it will be used on passenger ferries and cruise ships.

The wave energy is harnessed by 12 dolphin-like fins on the ship's hull, while sun and wind energy is collected by three giant, rigid, fin-like sails covered in solar panels.

The sails and fins will also help the ship to cruise at a speed of 15 knots and stability will be provided by the pentamaran hull - a slim monohull that will have two smaller support hulls, known as sponsons, on each side.

Once harnessed the sun, wind and wave energy will be combined with hydrogen and stored in fuel cells.

The ship's launch isn't exactly just around the corner, and it is anticipated to initially be more costly than traditional options, but the company is convinced it is the wave of the future (no pun intended).

Nils Dyvik, the company's chief executive, said that a ship with some of the Orcelle's "environmentally friendly characteristics" could be launched within five years, but said that the "complete version" might not be crossing the oceans until 2025.

The cost of the futuristic vessel is not known, but Mr Dyvik said that he expected that it would be more expensive than a conventional cargo ship, which costs up to £46 million. "The cost is likely to come down, however, as the technology gets cheaper," he added.

Mr Dyvik said that the E/S Orcelle was the future of ocean transport. "It represents the achievable goal of building a zero-emission cargo ship," he said.