The Global Center for Maritime Decarbonization (GCMD), AIM Horizon Investments, and Eastern Pacific Shipping (EPS) announced the financing for two wind-assisted propulsion systems (WAPS) projects through the Fund for Energy Efficiency Technologies (FEET), marking the fund's first deployment.
FEET is the world's first fund to link verified fuel and regulatory savings from EETs installed on vessels to a pay-as-you-save mechanism. It offers up to 100% upfront financing through a blended finance structure. FEET is managed by AlM Horizon Investments, with GCMD as the fund's decarbonization advisor. It is also supported by the Development Bank of Japan, DBS Bank and ING.
The fund's first deployment finances the wind-assisted propulsion systems on board MV Pacific Sentinel and MV Pacific Sunstone. Each has installed three 22-meter suction sails on board, making them the first vessels in the EPS fleet to use WAPS.
This deployment builds on an earlier collaboration between GCMD and EPS, which led to the development of a methodology for quantifying fuel savings from the WAPS installed onboard MV Pacific Sentinel.
To isolate the retrofit's impact from changes in operating conditions, GCMD collected 276 million data points over four months of spot-market trading in the Americas, from mid-May to mid-September 2025. From these, 203 valid on-off transitions were screened to quantity performance.
Going forward, FEET will apply this methodology, reviewed by an independent third party, to determine fuel savings for the WAPS projects it finances. The project data will be audited, and the calculated fuel savings independently verified. These verified savings will then be used to determine payments from shipowners.