Container ships, cruise vessels and LNG carriers feature increasingly large windage and have to navigate into ports through waterways and locks, and finally berth safely at terminals which are sometimes exposed to severe wind. Recent incidents indicate that limiting wind conditions are reached earlier than in the past. New technologies will be deployed to increase our understanding of the 3-D wind field encountered which is instrumental to develop a practical wind load prediction tool. The envisaged tool is for operational use on board and in the port as well mooring analysis and in nautical simulators.