Kalle Reflects on Wallenius Shipping as a Role Model

The Soya Group, with its Wallenius shipping, is one of the best examples in the world of how to plan strategically (step-wise and with improved ROIs) towards an operationally robust definition of sustainability. To that end, the organization has applied the Operative System of FSSD to be…
  1. Systemic, that is, applying the boundary conditions of the FSSD to model attractive and scalable goals of the future that do not hamper sustainability for any societal sector or Nature.
  2.  Strategic, that is, stepwise planning towards such goals, where each step serves as a steppingstone to the next, while improving on ROI from upfront to sustain the process.
In concrete terms for this sector, this means concrete planning to scrap fossil fuels, applying biofuels as mid-term solutions in the early- and mid-terms, while at the same time taking the long term seriously. All to connect short- and midterms with full-scale sustainability in the longer term.
The picture shows a pilot model of Wallenius’ Oceanbird project, a way of wind-powering Ocean-going cargo ships in the modern IT world. The ship is sailing with vertically mounted and IT-trimmed wings with software that ensures optimal angles to the wind throughout cruises. Oceanbird will be equipped with auxiliary engines for support-energy, when needed, and for propelling in harbors. Those engines will also be sustainably powered, with biofuels in the short-to-mid terms and electricity or hydrogen for fuel cells in the longer term. https://www.theoceanbird.com/
Hydrogen cannot, due to a widely spread infrastructure of gas stations, be considered as a fuel for road traffic. However, hydrogen fits a sustainable societal structure for centralized functions such as reduction of ore from mines, energy savings, and as fuels distributed to large harbors of flights and ocean trade.
The long-term planning is not only about being proactive onto more and more sustainability driven markets, to always stay at the cutting edge, but also to provide solutions for Ocean trade at large. The problem is then the long lifespans of the old-time Ocean traders propelled by poorly refined petroleum products. To speed up the transition towards sustainable solutions, plans are under development to have Oceanbird rigs mounted on boats that already exist. So that we will not have to wait for them to be scrapped before development can take off at scales and speeds sufficient for society at large.
This is how an organization can gradually develop towards full sustainability, i.e. towards innovations that are truly scalable and attractive, while at the same time increasing its financial and other conditions along the way. To apply this same thinking in any organization at any scale, please visit the FSSD Global homepage to get started.
Oceanbird