While some freighters and manufacturers have attempted to green up the Earth’s waterways by taking inspiration from the past, one of the world’s leading wind turbine manufacturers looks to take green shipping into the future. 

Enercon, the world’s third largest producer of wind turbines, and maker of one of the most powerful turbines ever, has built an entire ship of its own, designed from stem to stern for total efficiency. Even the name (”E-Ship 1”) is efficient. 

The centerpiece of the new vessel is a group of four cylindrical turbines that provide additional propulsion through the phenomenon of the Magnus Effect , in which a spinning cylinder in a stream of air creates force perpendicular to that airstream. It’s the same effect that gives a curveball its curve, and when used on a large enough scale, can generate a great deal of force.  

While this technology is also something of a blast from the past—rotorship prototypes were built in the early 20th century, but the lower costs of fuel dampened interest—in a world of higher-priced oil and carbon caps, this high profile design will turn heads and draw interest at ports around the world.