Drivers and barriers to the adoption of wind assisted ship propulsion technologies: An organisational perspective

The transition to sustainable maritime shipping will necessitate the uptake of various revamped and newly developed technological innovations. Among these, wind assisted ship propulsion technologies (WASPTs) are (r)emerging as a viable option. Understanding the drivers and barriers to their adoption is therefore critical for developing policies and business strategies to harness their potential. A key limitation of the extant literature on these drivers and barriers is their reliance on theoretical perspectives focused on factors external to organisations. The purpose of this paper is to provide a more comprehensive picture of the drivers and barriers to the adoption of WASPTs. A qualitative thematic analysis is applied to fourteen semi-structured interviews with senior stakeholders across the maritime sector. Guided by a systems theory lens, the analysis categorises drivers into internal, connecting, and external types, and barriers into behavioural, economic, organisational, and technological categories. The findings highlight that WASPTs adoption is primarily driven by progressive leadership, strategic alignment, and regulatory incentives, but is constrained by high investment costs, a conservative industry culture, and various operational and structural limitations. Based on this a conceptual model that highlights the role of internal organisational dynamics and inter-actor legitimacy pressures is developed. From a business perspective, a technology package approach emerged as a strategic solution for addressing the high cost of investment and payback time and return on investment (ROI) sensitivity barriers. It is also argued that designing policies built around progressive leaders rather targeting the whole industry could be more effective in accelerating WASPTs adoption.