Events

Safety is not theoretical in maritime operations. The high seas remain an unforgiving environment where systems are routinely pushed to their limits. Heavy fuel oil is well understood, with decades of operational experience behind its safety protocols – yet incidents still occur.

 

Of the alternative fuels, LNG has matured into a proven marine fuel and one that is firmly back in favour after the IMO paused elements of its Net Zero Framework in October 2025. The regulatory hesitancy was quickly reflected in orderbooks, with LNG re-emerging as a favoured and well-understood bridge towards a lower-carbon future.

 

The other alternative fuels, however, introduce unfamiliar hazards. Hydrogen’s extremely low ignition energy, ammonia’s acute toxicity and methanol’s combination of flammability and toxicity all demand new layers of engineering scrutiny.

 

For Dr Thomas Beard, clean shipping service lead and principal marine engineer at BMT, the challenge is both technical and urgent. His doctorate in hydrogen safety, completed years before the current fuel debate intensified, has become newly relevant as shipowners seek to find ways to stay profitable, compliant and safe against a backdrop of regulatory uncertainty.

 

Designing for an uncertain fuel future

With no single alternative poised to displace heavy fuel oil in the near term, and limited fuel availability weighing on shipowner decisions, designers are increasingly adopting flexible, future-proofed layouts.

 

“In a design perspective, it’ll be like a space grab,” Beard says. “You allocate space for certain equipment and piping that can be retrofitted once the fuels become more available. Then we don’t have the weight penalty of piping we don’t need.”

Thomas Beard: “At sea, normal conditions can quickly flip”

 

Space pressures are already acute because all leading alternative fuels have lower volumetric energy density than diesel:

• Methanol: ~15MJ/litre

• LNG (methane): ~13MJ/litre

• Ammonia: ~11.5MJ/litre

• Hydrogen: roughly 3-8MJ/litre depending on storage method.

 

Lower energy density means larger tanks, which in turn affects vessel layout, cargo capacity and stability calculations.

 

Storage conditions further complicate matters. Methanol is liquid at ambient conditions and can be stored similarly to diesel. LNG requires cryogenic storage at approximately –162°C, hydrogen at around –253°C or at considerable pressure, and ammonia at roughly –35°C under refrigerated conditions. Each demands dedicated tank systems and safety envelopes.

 

Reclaiming space through smart design

Some of the lost volume can be clawed back through careful naval architecture. Beard notes that cofferdam (air gap) distances for certain fuels can be reduced from traditional 600mm to around 30mm in specific configurations and with suitable technology.

 

Methanol offers particular flexibility. Because it is water-soluble, tanks do not always require double-hull separation from the ship’s side shell below the waterline.

 

“It means we can leverage bits of the design to start maximising the space for the additional storage requirements,” Beard explains.

 

All of these fuels fall under the IMO’s International Code of Safety for Ship Using Gases or Other Low-flashpoint Fuels (IGF Code). That brings extensive mandatory safeguards and existing knowhow to bear for new problems.

 

Layers of protection

Modern low-flashpoint fuel systems rely on multiple defensive layers, including:

• Double-walled piping

• Nitrogen inerting systems

• Gas detection and alarm networks

• Airlocks and hazardous zoning

• Dedicated mechanical ventilation

• Redundant power supplies.

 

Redundancy is particularly critical. Safety and firefighting systems must remain operational even during major failures.

 

“The fuels are either highly toxic, highly flammable, or a mixture,” Beard says. “You have to design accordingly.”

 

Ammonia: the toxic threat

Ammonia’s primary hazard is toxicity rather than flammability. It is highly hydrophilic, which means it aggressively attacks moist tissue such as eyes, nose and throat. Exposure risks are severe. Concentrations above 0.25% can be fatal within 30 minutes and, unlike with exposure to some other chemicals, there is no cure.

 

Under normal operating conditions, the risks are manageable. But maritime operations rarely remain normal.

 

“At sea, normal conditions can quickly flip into a dark and stormy night scenario,” Beard warns. “That’s where redundancy becomes vital.”

 

Engineers must ensure sufficient backup power to allow crew in hazmat suits to isolate leaks, purge systems with nitrogen and restore safe conditions.

 

These realities may limit ammonia’s suitability for passenger vessels.

 

“It might be feasible on a crew transfer vessel where everyone is trained and buckled into their seats,” Beard says. “On a ferry or cruiseship, passengers are untrained and mobile, and that’s a very big challenge.”

 

Methanol: the double hazard

Methanol presents both flammability and toxicity risks. It can harm through ingestion, skin absorption or inhalation.

 

Treatment exists – most commonly fomepizole – but Beard notes an unusual secondary remedy: high-strength ethanol, such as vodka or whisky, which competes metabolically with methanol in the body.

 

Firefighting presents another complication. Methanol flames can be nearly invisible in daylight, requiring alcohol-resistant foam systems and enhanced detection procedures.

 

Hydrogen: ultra-flammable but with inbuilt safety features

Hydrogen’s minimum ignition energy is about 0.02MJ – low enough that static electricity from clothing can ignite it. Although this is at ~38% concentration, at 10% concentration the ignition energy is similar to methane (LNG). Yet the fuel also has intrinsic safety advantages.

 

“What I do like about hydrogen is that it has its own inbuilt safety mechanisms,” Beard says. “It’s the most buoyant and diffusive gas on Earth. It wants to rise and spread out.”

 

Open-deck storage can, therefore, be advantageous. Below-deck storage, however, introduces major ventilation and explosion-proofing requirements.

 

Blast-proof ducting, hazardous-zone equipment ratings and dense sensor networks become essential. Detection systems typically trigger at around 50% of the lower flammability limit – well before ignition is possible.

 

LNG: A familiar contender

Compared with the newer fuels, LNG benefits from a more mature safety framework. Engineers are “quietly confident” in handling it and it now has a proven track record as a marine fuel, even if its well-to-wake emissions are less compelling than some of the potential cleaner alternatives.

 

BMT Venator dual fuel frigate (methanol & F-76) BMT shows how warships can transition to low-carbon methanol without trading combat resilience, using dedicated fuel prep spaces, double-walled pipework, optimised cofferdams and segregated venting to stack multiple layers of protection around a flexible machinery arrangement. Allows cleaner operations in peace time but offers full operational capability in times of conflict.

The human factor

While engineering controls are advancing rapidly, Beard believes crew competence may be the industry’s greatest challenge.

 

“These fuels are so different that there’s a strong argument for specialism,” he says.

 

Yet excessive specialisation could restrict seafarer mobility between vessel types – something crews and operators alike are keen to avoid. The uncertainty over which fuels will dominate further complicates planning. Training investment must be balanced against an unclear long-term fuel mix.

 

A whole-system challenge

Decarbonisation isn’t just about ships. Beard emphasises that vessel design cannot be separated from shoreside infrastructure.

 

“It’s no good just designing a ship,” he says. “You also need to work out how to fuel it, wherever it goes. It’s a whole ecosystem. Nobody wants stranded assets.”

 

It’s clear that decarbonisation will test maritime engineering in ways not seen for generations, and safety will remain the ultimate measure of success.

 

This article appeared in Features, TNA Mar/Apr 2026

While there are more commercially appealing alternative marine fuels available, hydrogen (H2), a highly flammable and odourless gas that in its super-cooled liquid form will propel man’s return to the moon, is possibly the ‘greenest’ to have made significant maritime inroads over the past 12 months.

 

Landmark vessel announcements, a regulatory breakthrough at the 11th session of the IMO Sub-Committee on Carriage of Cargoes and Containers in London last September, and the first serious infrastructure commitments have combined to give hydrogen the credibility it lacked just two years ago.

 

Indeed, there are now more than 20 hydrogen ships in operation, with twice that under construction, representing a number of ship-type ‘firsts’. As far as hydrogen is concerned, 2026 is seeing a real surge in ship design and construction.

 

The clearest sign that the industry is taking H2 more seriously was in April 2025, when Fincantieri and Viking announced the building of a pair of 54,300gt hydrogen-fuelled cruiseships – the world’s first designed with hydrogen to be stored onboard. Viking Libra, set to join the Viking fleet later this year, features a hybrid 6MW propulsion system based around Isotta Fraschini Motori’s proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell technology. The decision to store the fuel onboard as cryogenic liquid hydrogen (LH2) in a bespoke container loaded on to the vessel during port calls is a pragmatic workaround to the absence of any fixed LH2 bunkering infrastructure to speak of.

 

The shortage of H2 bunkering ports is the main impediment to larger deep-sea vessels getting off the drawing board. But things are changing fast.

 

In May last year, for instance, the Port of Rotterdam and Oslo-based EDGE Navigation signed a Letter of Intent to develop a large-scale hydrogen network across Europe’s largest port complex. The Norwegian maritime technology company is developing a series of commercial LH2-powered cargo ships, as well as an LH2 tanker that can be used for ship-to-ship bunkering. Rotterdam aims to prepare the port for the arrival of these ships from 2028.

Samskip’s SeaShuttles will establish a “green corridor”

 

Come 2050, it is widely anticipated that global demand for hydrogen will hit 60 million tonnes, fuelling 19% of the world fleet. To this end, Kawasaki Heavy Industries (KHI) and Japan Suiso Energy (JSE) announced at the beginning of this year plans to build a 40,000m³ liquefied hydrogen carrier, the world’s largest, under the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) Green Innovation Fund Project. JSE plans to use the new LHC to demonstrate the ship-to-base loading/unloading under ocean-going conditions by 2023.

 

The vessel, slated for a building slot at KHI’s Sakaide Works, will join KHI’s 2021-built 1,250m³ capacity Suiso Frontier in taking LH2 cargoes at the Hy touch Kobe LH2 demonstration terminal.

 

Interestingly, the new vessel’s cargo tanks will use a high-performance insulation system designed to reduce the generation of boil-off gas (BOG) caused by natural heat ingress from the outside, enabling the much larger volume of cryogenic liquid hydrogen to be transported. A heat exchanger will also be installed to allow the BOG to be used for propulsive power. Together with the vessel’s hull form and draught, combined with the low density of liquefied hydrogen, the vessel will have a higher propulsion efficiency for less power, resulting in zero emissions. KHI believes the new vessel will provide the foundation for the future hydrogen supply chain.

 

Other large commercial ship hydrogen newbuild developments include a pair of 85m bulk carriers for Norwegian shipowner GMI Rederi. Each of these 4,000dwt bulkers will adopt seven PowerCell Marine System 225 units to deliver 3MW of zero-emissions power. When launched in early 2027, the vessels could be the world’s first hydrogen-powered bulk carriers.

 

Meanwhile, Samskip’s SeaShuttle project represents one of the most ambitious leaps in the maritime industry’s hydrogen surge. Two 135m container ships, currently under construction at Cochin Shipyard in India, are being designed to establish a “green corridor” between Rotterdam and Oslo.

Renderings of Torghatten’s hydrogen ferries, due for delivery later this year (image: Torghatten Nord)

 

Each vessel is equipped with a massive 3.2MW hydrogen fuel cell system, a significant scale-up from earlier pilot projects, with liquid hydrogen supplied by Norwegian Hydrogen’s Rjukan plant. These ships have a hatch coverless design, which speeds up port operations, and “autonomous-ready” technology, aiming for remote-controlled efficiency. The first of these vessels is expected to be delivered late in 2026, with full commercial operations beginning in Q2 2027.

 

While these are some of the larger H2 AMF projects under development, existing smaller-scale projects are providing more immediate operational evidence for the fuel’s wider maritime potential.

 

One example is the operational data from the 75-passenger hydrogen-fuelled ferry Sea Change, which entered service in San Francisco Bay in July 2024. A study, published in 2025 in the International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, found that its 360kW PEM fuel cells and 246kg of hydrogen (stored at 250 bar) delivered stable and reliable power under real-world duty cycles, achieving an average electrical efficiency of approximately 45-46%.

 

However, the paper also noted that delivered hydrogen costs averaged approximately US$30/kg during operations, roughly 10 times the cost of diesel, although this increase represents only a 20% hike in total annual operating costs given hydrogen’s higher efficiency. You get more combustion bang for your buck.

Top: GreenH is building a hydrogen bunkering facility at Langstranda, near Bodø. Bottom: Torghatten Nord’s ferry routes

 

Norway’s 3,400gt, 82m-long Hydra, the world’s first LH2-powered car and passenger ferry (in service since 2023), is also providing the shipping world with evidence that liquid hydrogen will play an important role in the green maritime transition. Although not as informative as the Sea Change study, 2024 reports from Ballard Power Systems – the fuel cell manufacturer – noted that Hydra has made more than 20,000 crossings, establishing efficient bunkering turnarounds.

 

However, Hydra has since been eclipsed in scale by Torghatten Nord’s two new 117m hydrogen ferries, Røst and Moskenes, ordered for the Bodø–Lofoten route. These LR-classed double-enders, scheduled for delivery from Myklebust Verft later this year, bring hydrogen fuel cell technology firmly into the size range of conventional long-distance ro-pax tonnage, reducing annual CO₂ emissions on the Vestfjord route by some 26,500tonnes.

 

Hydrogen for the route will be supplied by GreenH, which is building a bunkering facility at Langstranda, near Bodø, with an eventual output of up to 10tonnes of hydrogen per day. The facility, the first of its kind in Northern Europe, will be the first functioning value chain for hydrogen as a maritime fuel in Norway. And once the first phase is complete later this year, compressed green hydrogen will be delivered directly from the production plant to the vessels via a dedicated pipeline, eliminating the high costs and logistical complexities of road transport. The system utilises a “cascade bunkering” method involving pressure transfer, achieving a minimum transfer speed of 1,700kg/h, allowing full daily refuelling in about three hours.

 

 

Sea change partners develop H2 ferry for NYC

 

Australian shipbuilder Incat Crowther and Switch Maritime in the US have announced a project to design and build a hydrogen-fuelled fast ferry for New York City.

 

The Big Apple’s first ever hydrogen-fuelled ferry, the 28.5m vessel has capacity to ferry 150 passengers at cruising speeds of 25knots. Featuring four H2 tanks capable of storing 720kg of compressed hydrogen, the vessel’s 16 98kW fuel cells will provide power to four Danfoss EM-PMI540-T3000 electric motors, which will in turn drive the catamaran’s twin propellers and other consumers.

 

Incat Crowther and Switch previously partnered on the design, delivery and regulatory approval for Sea Change – the world’s first zero-emissions hydrogen fuel cell-powered electric passenger ferry. Incat Crowther’s technical manager, Dan Mace, said the design showcases a feasible solution for mass transit operators looking to begin the fleet decarbonisation process, while maintaining existing operational profiles.

 

“The vessel’s ability to drop in to existing fleets is a real positive step to reduce emissions and ensures the vessel can be deployed quickly without the need for constructing additional shoreside infrastructure,” he said.

 

The project team plans to launch a ZEF-150 demonstration vessel at the Brooklyn Navy Yard.

 

These articles appeared in In depth, TNA Mar/Apr 2026

The anchoring and mooring equipment sector has developed a troubling tendency in recent years, according to Muir, a company based in Hobart, Australia. More and more equipment suppliers are adopting what the company describes as a “hands-off” approach to system integration and layout: hardware is specified, priced and delivered, but meaningful guidance on how it should be installed and arranged within the vessel is absent. For a naval architect or design engineer already managing competing pressures across a complex project, that gap in support can have real consequences, it says.

 

The firm says the issue is compounded by the direction contemporary vessel design is taking. Whether in the superyacht sector, commercial shipping or defence procurement, designers are under constant pressure to save space and reduce topside weight, while simultaneously minimising the exposure of crew and operators to mechanical hazards. These are entirely legitimate design objectives, but they are reshaping the environments into which anchoring systems must fit, often without adequate consideration of the implications for the systems themselves.

 

The shrinking foredeck

The superyacht sector offers perhaps the starkest illustration, says Max Buckley, general manager at Muir. The trend towards enclosed or semi-enclosed mooring decks, designed to present a cleaner aesthetic and reduce operator exposure to deck hazards, has dramatically reduced the working area available for anchoring equipment. Muir estimates that mooring island footprints on some modern yachts have contracted by as much as 50% compared with earlier generations of vessels of similar size.

 

What was once a relatively open deck area, the company says, where a windlass could be positioned with generous clearance and access for installation and maintenance, has become a tightly choreographed space in which every component must earn its place. Chain stoppers and rollers must now sit far closer to windlasses than was historically standard. Hawse pipes and spurling pipes, the conduits that guide chain from the deck to the chain locker below, must navigate far more aggressive angles to connect all the equipment within the constrained footprint. The tolerances that experienced riggers once relied upon have, in many cases, been engineered away.

 

Commercial and defence projects present a parallel set of challenges, says Muir, though driven by different forces. Safety regulations and risk assessment requirements are increasingly dictating where operators can stand in relation to moving chain and rotating equipment. Chain stopper handwheels and windlass brake controls must now be positioned at specified distances and angles from the equipment itself. These requirements are sensible in isolation, but when they are layered onto a layout that was designed without them in mind, the entire anchor island may need to be rearranged, with consequent knock-on effects for chain run angles, equipment heights and deck penetrations.

A recommended design (image: Muir)

 

The cost of poor layout

The consequences of inadequate attention to anchoring system layout are not merely theoretical. Muir’s field experience points to a recurring set of problems that emerge during commissioning, sea trials and early operation, issues that are invariably more expensive and disruptive to fix at that stage than they would have been to prevent on the drawing board.

 

⦁          Chain whip during deployment, caused by misalignment between hawse pipe geometry and the windlass gypsy, can create dangerous conditions on the foredeck and accelerate wear on both chain and equipment.

⦁          Excessive chain twist, which often arises from incorrect geometry in the chain path, can cause jams and require time-consuming manual intervention at sea.

⦁          Wear on chain and equipment is accelerated wherever hawse and spurling pipe angles have not been properly matched to chain stopper and roller positions, leading to premature replacement of expensive components.

⦁          Noise and vibration from misaligned equipment generate owner and captain complaints that ultimately reflect on the shipyard, not the equipment supplier.

⦁          New pinch points between handwheels and adjacent structure, created when equipment is reshuffled to meet safety siting requirements, can introduce new hazards even as they resolve existing ones.

⦁          Impact damage to vessel structures can occur where poorly arranged chain runs allow chain to strike hull or deck elements under load.

⦁          Access and serviceability are often severely compromised in reduced-footprint anchor islands, making routine maintenance difficult and driving up the cost of ownership over the vessel’s working life.

 

Many of these problems share a common root: they arise when each component in the anchoring system has been considered in isolation, without modelling the full chain path from locker to gypsy and confirming that geometry, clearances and alignments are consistent throughout.

 

Getting it right in the design phase

The good news, Muir emphasises, is that most of these issues are preventable, provided the right questions are asked at the right time. The anchoring system should not be the last item considered on a foredeck layout; it should be integrated into the design process from the outset, with its geometry informing decisions about deck penetrations, locker volumes and equipment siting in the same way that other critical systems are treated.

 

Key considerations that designers should work through with their anchoring system supplier include:

⦁          Chain alignment in both horizontal and vertical planes, including confirming that the chain run matches the pitch circle diameter of the windlass gypsy and that sufficient wrap is provided for reliable chain-to-gypsy engagement.

⦁          Angular compatibility between chain stopper positions and the angles of hawse and spurling pipes, ensuring smooth chain passage without stress concentrations.

⦁          Chain locker volume, which must be sufficient to accommodate the anticipated chain pile without causing windlass jams or inducing chain twist as the locker fills.

⦁          Lead-in angles on capstans, which must be controlled to prevent overwrapping of rope or wire.

⦁          Unsupported chain run lengths between components, which should not exceed manufacturer-specified maximums – and where they do, chain guides must be incorporated into the design.

⦁          Safe positioning of all handwheels and manual controls, away from chain firing lines and the arc of any moving components.

⦁          Correct alignment of chain strippers with chain paths, to prevent fouling during retrieval.

 

Putting experience to work earlier

To help bridge the gap between system supply and system integration, Muir has developed a comprehensive design guide for anchoring and mooring systems, aimed at naval architects and project engineers working through the early stages of vessel design. The guide addresses the full chain path in detail and provides reference data to assist with system sizing and space allocation.

 

The company also offers full three-dimensional drawing packages for its equipment, allowing designers to import accurate geometry into their models at an early stage, before deck penetrations are cut and structural commitments made that are difficult to reverse. The goal, Muir says, is to shift the conversation about anchoring systems from the commissioning dock back to the design office.

 

Six decades of watching vessels leave the shipyard and return with avoidable problems has given the Tasmanian manufacturer a clear conviction: the anchoring system that nobody thinks about until the foredeck is almost finished is the one most likely to cause trouble. In a discipline that prides itself on rigour and systems thinking, that is an oversight the industry can ill afford.

 

“Our core philosophy is on ‘inherently safe design’,” says Buckley. “While effective maintenance regimes can mitigate wear interface risks, failures in the actuation and retainer systems require a more fundamental engineering solution.”

 

 

BUILT ON THE FINISH LINE

 

Muir’s Boatyard, set up in 1968 (image: Muir)

There are few manufacturers that can claim their founding location sits quite as close to the action as Muir. Established in 1968, the company’s original workshop was positioned on the finish line of the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race in Hobart, Tasmania, close enough, the company says, that crews could watch the fleet arrive from the slipway next door. Tasmania’s rich maritime heritage provided a fitting cradle for what would become one of the world’s most experienced anchoring system specialists.

 

Over the past 60 years, Muir has designed and manufactured anchoring systems for a remarkably diverse range of vessels: from 5m aluminium plate runabouts built in backyards to 120m superyachts, and from commercial workboats to 80m offshore patrol vessels for defence clients. That breadth of experience, the company says, has given it an unusually clear view of where the industry is going wrong, and how relatively straightforward design decisions made early in a project can prevent significant problems down the line.

 

Andrew Buckley, Muir’s executive chairman, says: “One of the things that sets Muir apart is the fact we’ve been able to build a culture and team of people who are really proud of what they do. We are proud to say we build something in Tasmania, Australia, that is used on some of the top superyachts in the world.”

 

This article appeared in Features, TNA Mar/Apr 2026

Only a few years ago, wind-assisted propulsion systems (WAPS) were considered pioneering technology, but they have now matured into reliable and commercially viable solutions.

 

WAPS providers have been gathering extensive operational experience and, based on the lessons learned, are ready to deliver their second-generation products, focusing on improved performance, higher reliability and better system integration. System builders are also continuing to invest in upscaling their capacity to deliver, which will not only meet the current demand but predicts continuing growth.

 

In 2026, we will almost certainly see 100 vessels equipped with WAPS globally, which will be a significant milestone and signal strong growth for the years ahead. Today, 77 ships have installed modern wind-assisted propulsion systems, with 62% of the vessels retrofitted. And while this is still only a small fraction of the global fleet, recent uptake has been rapid.

 

Setting standards

One key enabler of this development has been the evolution of technical standards. By reducing uncertainty in the viability of the technology, they have built up market acceptance. From the DNV side, we have released the first WAPS-ready notation, published a new white paper, and a new recommended practice to assess the performance of WAPS. We’ll be working with industry to make sure this reflects their needs – and we hope it will be a big step forward in building confidence in the systems, by providing a new, transparent methodology, backed up by verifiable data.

 

DNV’s rules and guidelines have supported providers, designers and shipowners by offering structured tools to confirm operational safety and to evaluate performance, both at the design stage and during operation.

 

Designing for WAPS

When assessing the feasibility of a specific WAPS installation, it is important to identify the design and operational challenges that must be addressed for the successful implementation of the system. The ship type and size, along with the main particulars, choice of technology, newbuild or retrofit will all affect the range of feasible solutions and dictate the technical considerations and constraints.

 

Additionally, the desired level of supplemental wind power for ship propulsion will determine the scale of the sail unit and the complexity of the machinery systems. Finally, the operational trade routes, including the prevailing winds, weather patterns and local regulations, also need to be taken into consideration.

 

Table: DNV feasibility study; design and operational considerations for WAPS installations

RELEVANT DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS	RELEVANT  OPERATIONAL CONSIDERATIONS
• Free air and deck space • Structural integration • Intact stability • Installation in hazardous zones • Added weight • Air draft • Obstruction of mooring configuration • Performance optimisation • Navigational: line of sight, navigation lights, radar sector	• Robustness / reliability / operational safety • Interference with deck/cargo handling • Engine and propeller derating • Impaired manoeuvrability • Crew education • Port operations, pilots, towage, channels, locks • Interference with helicopter/evacuation procedures

Safe and efficient integration

Installations will generally require class approval. For major retrofitting projects, a comprehensive risk assessment is generally advisable and, in many cases, will be required by class or the authorities.

 

WAPS change the loads acting on the vessel structure as well as the ship’s aerodynamics and manoeuvrability significantly. 

Furthermore, they have an impact on port operations and may interfere with overhead structures such as bridges when operating in coastal areas. Ensuring the ship’s structural fitness for WAPS and the chosen system’s robustness, reliability and operational safety in harsh marine environments is critical, requiring thorough testing.

 

WAPS can interfere with the line of sight and the visibility of navigation lights, and affect the radar blind sector, all of which have implications for compliance with statutory requirements. In some cases, WAPS may result in noise and vibration, which can affect crew comfort and vessel integrity.

 

In operation, navigating a ship with active WAPS typically requires updates to on-board practices, safety protocols, maintenance routines and equipment. Control systems for the propulsion engine and WAPS should be integrated to allow the efficient coordination of both. Comprehensive crew training is essential to ensure safe and efficient WAPS and vessel operation.

 

Verifying fuel savings

Verifying the fuel-saving performance of wind-propulsion solutions at full-scale is essential for both shipowners and technology providers. Knowing the actual performance helps to predict fuel savings and cost, can be shared with charterers and cargo owners, and help to determine future investments.

 

A dedicated sea trial under controlled conditions can offer a cost-effective and fast way to verify performance immediately after installation. DNV recommended practice, DNV-RP-0686 ‘Performance of wind assisted propulsion systems’, aims to set a standard on how to measure, evaluate and verify the power saving of WAPS from long-term, in-service measurements by so-called on-off tests.

 

Pure wind future

In the past few years, vessel concepts designed to rely on wind as the main source of propulsion have been gaining momentum. A good example is the upcoming Oceanbird wing sail installation onboard the Wallenius Wilhelmsen vessel Tirranna. These tests are setting a platform for the first fully wind-powered vessel – hopefully a milestone we will see soon. And the potential here is for fuel savings and emissions reductions of more than 50%, although their application is likely limited, at least initially, to lighter vessels.

 

WAPS are rapidly becoming one of the default technologies shipowners consider when planning newbuilds – at least for certain vessel types and routes. Their modular nature allows shipowners to achieve immediate fuel and emissions savings while maintaining flexibility for the future.

 

(image: Statistics from AFI dashboard, as per February 2026)

 

This article appeared in Features, TNA Mar/Apr 2026

I’m just the latest in a long line of custodians of RINA, building on what generations before us created, with a clear responsibility to ensure the Institution is stronger for our current members and those who follow.

 

At 166 years old, RINA is the longest-standing maritime engineering and naval architecture institution in the world. My ambition is to return RINA to its unique position as the global Learned Society, safeguarding the rightful place of the naval architects and maritime engineers at the very heart of critical global conversations on marine technology, innovation and development. We are also widening participation and inclusion across all associated professions to advance innovation. We recognise that the challenges facing our sector require collaboration across disciplines such as design, operations, regulation, finance and technology.

 

With members in more than 140 countries, RINA has extraordinary global reach and expertise. Our task now is to connect that expertise more effectively through the technical excellence of our conferences, publications and other structured collaboration. The following is just some of what we are doing.

 

Our digital library is being rebuilt, making the entire 166-year archive of journals, articles, conference proceedings, magazines, papers and other materials accessible for free to all members. Later this year, we will introduce an AI-powered search function.

 

We have introduced a ‘Find a Member’ capability, enabling members and employers to identify expertise, verify credentials and connect directly for collaboration, projects and professional engagement. It’s coming very shortly for our corporate partners too.

 

We have added new newsletters to our portfolio, which members can subscribe to in MyRINA.

 

In April, we are launching an innovative mentoring scheme, with every mentor and mentee individually matched. More than 10% of RINA members have indicated that they want to be involved, which demonstrates the depth of commitment within our membership. If you have put your name forward, you will be hearing from us very soon. If you haven’t done so yet, and would like to, this is available in your MyRINA area.

 

We are establishing structured digital forums for branches and committees, enabling international discussion without barriers of time or geography. Follow us on LinkedIn for forum announcements and updates over the coming weeks.

 

New technical working groups will address the defining issues of our industry, with findings made available to members via our digital library.

 

And every event, wherever it takes place in the world, will be recorded and made available to all members to watch in their own time. We are here to advance innovation, promote collaboration and make all the knowledge generated within RINA accessible to the entire membership.

 

These initiatives are being delivered by a strengthened executive team focused on operational excellence and effective communication.

 

RINA’s strength is its members. I encourage every member to engage actively with our resources, forums and events. Follow us on LinkedIn to join the conversation. Sign up to our newsletters to stay informed. Get involved in a working group. Be active in our forums. Come forward to mentor or be mentored. Attend an event. And if you know someone who belongs in this community, bring them in. A stronger, more connected Institution depends on the participation of its members.

 

This edition of The Naval Architect is looking at alternative fuels and vital decarbonisation work taking place. We have included content from our sold-out Wind Propulsion Conference 2026. If you are interested in more detail, proceedings and recordings are available in your MyRINA area. This magazine also features a professional profile of Edwin Pang, RINA trustee and chair of our IMO Committee.

 

We will continue to evolve The Naval Architect to anticipate the technical needs of our members and feature top talent. The next issue will benefit from a redesign and the introduction of a Technical Panel to support the editorial team. Please get in touch via publications@rina.org.uk to share your news and insights. I hope you find this edition informative and thought-provoking.

This article appeared in Message from the CEO, TNA Mar/Apr 2026

Three energy companies and Associated British Ports have joined forces to establish the UK’s first commercially ready biomethanol storage and bunkering service for shipping. It marks a significant step in the sector’s transition to low-carbon fuels and signals growing industry confidence in alternative marine fuels as a practical, near-term solution.

 

Exolum, Methanex Corporation and Ørsted announced the initiative at the Port of Immingham, the UK’s largest port by cargo volume and a key hub for energy and bulk materials. Exolum will provide storage and fuelling infrastructure, Methanex will supply the biomethanol and Ørsted will be the first customer, bunkering vessels that support its North Sea offshore wind farm maintenance operations.

 

These offshore support vessels are well suited to early adoption: their frequent port calls and predictable operating patterns make bunkering availability the critical constraint rather than tank range. The arrangement represents a fully integrated supply chain delivered through commercial partnership rather than public subsidy.

 

The launch comes amid ongoing uncertainty at the IMO, which recently deferred its vote on implementing its Net Zero Framework, a package of measures – including a global fuel standard and carbon pricing mechanism – designed to put shipping on a trajectory to net zero by 2050. The deferral had prompted concern that decarbonisation momentum could stall without a clear international framework, though the partners said it had not diminished their own commitment to action.

 

The collaboration demonstrates how existing energy infrastructure can be repurposed for emerging alternative fuels, reducing the capital cost and complexity of transition for ports and ship operators alike. Domestic shipping accounts for 4.7% of the UK’s transport-related CO₂ emissions, more than buses, trains and domestic aviation combined, while international shipping contributes roughly 3% of global greenhouse gas emissions, a share expected to grow as other sectors decarbonise more rapidly.

 

Fuel storage and supply facilities at Port of Immingham (image: Frank Henshall. Source: Exolum)

 

The ISCC-certified biomethanol is produced at Methanex’s Gulf Coast facilities from waste-derived feedstocks and reduces lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions by up to 80%, compared with conventional marine fuels. Biomethanol is liquid at ambient temperature and pressure, and is chemically identical to fossil methanol, meaning methanol-capable vessels require no modification to use it.

 

The fuel’s growing commercial availability has tangible design implications. Biomethanol’s lower energy density, compared with heavy fuel oil means larger tank volumes are needed for equivalent range, with direct consequences for hull form, internal arrangement, stability, and the trade-off against cargo capacity. An orderbook of methanol-ready newbuilds, spanning container ships, offshore support vessels and ferries, reflects increasing owner confidence.

 

Vessels involved on these projects must also comply with the IMO’s IGF Code, which governs tank location, double-wall piping, ventilation, gas detection and emergency shutdown systems. Retrofit work presents additional complexity, requiring structural modifications, upgraded fuel handling systems and reassessment of stability and freeboard, an area of growing demand as bunkering infrastructure such as Immingham’s comes online.

 

The UK’s Department for Transport has published a roadmap targeting a 30% reduction in shipping emissions by 2030, 80% by 2040, and zero emissions by 2050, with biomethanol increasingly regarded as one of the more viable near-term pathways, particularly where hydrogen and ammonia remain constrained by infrastructure and technology readiness.

 

Steven Clapperton, head of marine (Humber) at Associated British Ports, says: “This initiative marks a significant moment for the Port of Immingham and the wider maritime sector. By enabling biomethanol bunkering, we are taking practical steps toward decarbonising one of the hardest-to-abate industries.”

 

Stuart McCall, vice president, low-carbon global market development, at Methanex, says: “As the world’s largest producer and supplier of methanol, Methanex is committed to developing and supporting innovative solutions that accelerate the transition to low-carbon shipping.”

 

This article appeared in In depth, TNA Mar/Apr 2026

A cut in fuel costs of 53%, achieved without switching to a single alternative fuel. That is the headline finding from Odfjell Ship Management, the Norwegian chemical tanker operator, and it may be the most compelling argument yet that efficiency, not ammonia, methanol or hydrogen, is the maritime industry’s most practical path to decarbonisation.

 

The drive to decarbonise shipping has split the industry along sectoral lines. Container shipping lines, closer to consumers, are being pushed by customers seeking to reduce scope 3 emissions. Liquid and dry bulk operators, typically running at lower speeds and on less fixed routes, are less inclined to shift to alternative fuels that are difficult to source, costly to buy and require new vessels. These three sectors together, tankers, dry bulk and container, account for more than 80% of maritime emissions, so their choices matter.

 

Against that backdrop, Odfjell has taken a different route. The company operates a fleet of 70 chemical tankers of varying ages and has developed a methodology it believes will allow it to meet net-zero targets through to 2040, using the ships it already has. Erik Hjortland, VP of technology at Odfjell Ship Management, says the company began planning its operational efficiency programme in 2007 and started upgrading its fleet in 2014, benchmarking against a 2008 baseline. The fuel cost reduction of 53% has been independently corroborated.

 

“We have done that without putting any stress on the renewable electricity infrastructure in the world, which we would have had to do if we had gone through the alternative fuels route,” says Hjortland. He points to a Clarkson study showing that 63% of the world’s fleet has still not installed any energy saving devices. “Imagine the potential, what we as a sector could have accomplished if everybody had made these changes.”

 

Wind in their sails

The tools Odfjell has deployed are neither exotic nor experimental. Energy saving devices, including Mewis Ducts, propeller boss caps, shaft generators and weather routing technology, have been fitted across the fleet. Last year, four bound4blue rigid suction sails were installed on the Bow Olympus, a 48,500dwt tanker. The results were sufficiently positive that Odfjell intends to fit suction sails across its entire fleet eventually.

 

“Our first voyage with sails showed positive results,” says Hjortland. “We expect that with these sails we will not need biofuel until 2031, and very little biofuel after that up to 2034.”

 

Underpinning all of this is a data system that Odfjell built in 2014, an automated tool that processes noon reports from captains and crew, flagging energy inefficiencies in real time. “We get approximately 100 alarms every day in that system, and we have a separate team who deal with those alarms, interact with the crew and work to reduce consumption,” says Hjortland. A business intelligence layer then benchmarks each vessel against the rest of the fleet, identifying best practice and spreading it across the operation. “I cannot stress enough how important this is,” he adds.

 

The investment case is equally straightforward. Odfjell has committed US$40 million across 140 energy saving devices, with most delivering a return on investment of between four and six months.

 

A numbers game

The economics of why this beats alternative fuels, at least for now, are stark. Odfjell’s analysis shows that a kilowatt-hour of renewable energy suffers significant losses through the alternative fuel production chain – 30% lost producing hydrogen, a further 30% converting it to ammonia or methanol, and up to 60% of what remains lost at the propeller. Wind power via rigid sails, by contrast, loses just 10% between sail and propeller.

 

Hjortland does not dismiss alternative fuels. Ammonia, methanol and hydrogen will ultimately be needed to reach net zero, but they represent, in his words, “huge projects somewhere down the line, multi-billion-dollar investments”. The business case for halving your fuel bill through efficiency measures, by contrast, is available to any operator today.

 

With 63% of the global fleet yet to fit a single energy saving device, the gap between what is possible and what is being done has rarely looked wider.

 

This article appeared in In depth, TNA Mar/Apr 2026

China is moving with unusual institutional weight to position itself at the centre of the global maritime energy transition. A blueprint backed by 10 central government ministries has set Shanghai on course to become a leading green bunkering hub by 2030. It is targeting one million cubic metres of bonded LNG capacity and one million tonnes of methanol and biofuel bunkering, a ‘double-million’ ambition that signals Beijing views this not as a commercial experiment but as strategic infrastructure.

 

The scale of state coordination is interesting. It is rare for 10 central agencies to jointly back a single city’s initiative, and the involvement of the National Development and Reform Commission alongside the Ministry of Transport suggests that this is being treated as industrial policy in the same register as semiconductors or electric vehicles.

 

Shanghai already leads Singapore in green methanol bunkering and recorded a 54% increase in bonded LNG bunkering volumes in 2025, but trails the city-state in overall LNG supply, a gap this plan is specifically designed to close.

 

Infrastructure investment will concentrate on Yangshan Port, Hengsha Island, the Yangtze River estuary and the Shanghai Chemical Industry Park, covering the full supply chain from production and storage through to bunkering vessels and onshore power equipment.

 

Operationally, Shanghai already offers a 50% discount on berthing fees for vessels using alternative fuels, piloting night-time bunkering at Yangshan, and promoting simultaneous cargo and bunkering operations to reduce turnaround times, the kind of practical competitive measures that erode Singapore’s incumbency advantage gradually rather than dramatically.

 

The trading ambition is equally significant. Shanghai intends to establish a green fuel spot market, introduce futures trading and financial derivatives, and develop internationally recognised price indices for green marine fuels. If successful, that would shift pricing power over the emerging alternative fuels market eastward in a way that has implications well beyond port competition.

 

It is against this backdrop that a new agreement has been signed to develop a green shipping corridor between French HAROPA PORT Seine Axis and Ningbo Zhoushan, China, the world’s largest port by cargo tonnage. With MSC, CMA CGM, Terminal Investment Limited and Bureau Veritas among the signatories, the corridor commits carriers on one of the world’s highest-volume container routes to developing alternative fuel supply chains spanning LNG, bio-LNG, green ammonia and green hydrogen. China accounts for 30% of HAROPA PORT’s container throughput, making this a route with the frequency and commercial density to actually stress-test infrastructure at scale.

 

The green corridor is a credible mechanism to address the chronic chicken-and-egg problem that has stalled maritime decarbonisation – shipowners unwilling to order alternative-fuel vessels without bunkering certainty, port operators unwilling to invest without confirmed demand.

 

Formalising mutual commitment across the supply chain simultaneously is more likely to break that impasse than waiting for either side to move first.

 

Ammonia and hydrogen feature in the corridor’s ambitions but remain pilot territory rather than near-term operational commitments. LNG and methanol will carry the early years. But taken together, Shanghai’s state-backed hub plan and this first intercontinental green corridor represent the most coherent and commercially grounded push yet to move maritime decarbonisation from aspiration to infrastructure.

 

These infrastructure commitments carry instant design consequences. Every fuel on the approved list demands fundamentally different tank arrangements, containment materials and safety zone configurations.

 

The corridor also sharpens the case for genuine multi-fuel capability rather than dual-fuel compromises. If LNG and methanol infrastructure consolidates on this route within the decade, designers will face pressure to specify vessels capable of both without significant payload or stability penalties, a tougher engineering problem than it sounds.

 

This article appeared in News, TNA Mar/Apr 2026

Edwin Pang describes himself as a ‘regulatory repairman’ on his LinkedIn page. Perhaps not surprising for someone who chairs RINA’s IMO Committee, and has been the Institution’s representative to the IMO since 2018. Like all those who serve on RINA’s committees, Edwin is a volunteer. His day job is running a niche consultancy business, Arcsilea, which he founded in 2018 and which focuses on greenhouse gas (GHG) reductions, decarbonisation, alternative fuels and energy efficiency, with a particular specialism in regulatory impact analysis.

 

“I came to RINA somewhat late in my career, having spent the first decade or so in a rather peripatetic existence,” says Edwin. “But I’d always been involved in regulatory policy development, so it was a natural progression. It has been a real honour and a privilege to have been elected by my peers to serve as chair, and to be the Institution’s representative to the IMO.”

 

After university, Edwin held naval architect roles with Three Quays Marine Services, Knud E. Hansen and Herbert Engineering Europe. Much of this early work concentrated on passenger ship design, covering ferries and cruise ships, with a focus on safety issues, especially stability. In time that experience widened to cover a broader range of vessel types, and other segments such as ballast water and offshore wind.

FOUNDER	Arcsilea
CHAIR	RINA IMO Committee
	EMPLOYMENT AND EDUCATION
2018-present	Founder at Arcsilea Ltd
2016-2018	Herbert Engineering Europe (UK)
2012	UCL APMP
2005-2015	Senior naval architect at Knud E. Hansen, Copenhagen and London
2000-2005	Project naval architect at Three Quays Marine Services, London
1997-2000	University of Strathclyde, B.Eng 1st Class Honours, Naval Architecture and Offshore Engineering

 

One of the highlights of Edwin’s early career was as on-site project coordinator on a nine-month lengthening project for a 220m-long ro-ro passenger ship at Lloyd Werft Bremerhaven. “The floating calculations for the fore and aft sections of the vessel lengthening project were especially significant,” he says. “Effectively, this was a detailed estimate of weights and centres of gravity, with a limited amount of documentation, after the ship had been cut in two, which showed we needed to weld a barge to the aft part of the ship, to enable it to have a reasonable trim to minimise draught.”

 

Edwin also singles out his important work with the Lloyd’s Register Foundation-funded FerrySafe team, looking at improving domestic passenger ship safety in developing countries. The team tried to understand what the Philippines had done to improve its overall safety record so that these measures could be replicated elsewhere.

 

“Regulations can be somewhat theoretical,” he says, “especially if the issue is complex, and you need real-world maritime industry feedback to make them usable. That is what I have ended up doing – taking practical examples of what happens in reality and then assessing how to develop regulations properly based on that experience.”

 

In the past eight years, Edwin has undertaken a series of projects in energy efficiency and GHG reduction. This has included an analysis of the Energy Efficiency Design Index (EEDI) for new and existing ro-ro cargo and passenger ships for Interferry, leading to a revision of EEDI reference lines for both ship types at MEPC 72. He also helped develop and finalise Energy Efficiency Existing Ship Index and carbon intensity indicator regulations at IMO, working for the European Commission as well as industry, carrying out impact assessments on ships based on analysis of fuel consumption data and acting as joint coordinator of the IMO Correspondence group developing those measures.

 

As chair of the RINA IMO Committee, Edwin is responsible for the Institution’s submissions to the organisation, determining positions to take on key issues, discussing regulatory developments with member states and other NGOs, and much more.

 

“RINA plays a key, and perhaps unique, role at the IMO as one of the few organisations whose membership comes from right across the maritime industry value chain,” he says. “In many ways, RINA is in an ideal position to be the ‘honest broker’, presenting technical advice in a balanced way. Other parties appreciate our input, which is not constrained by political or commercial considerations. We are not a lobby group, and don’t stand to gain one way or another. We are there simply to represent what we think is right or technically justified.”

 

Over the past decade, Edwin says RINA has achieved a lot with IMO. “There is a fair amount of regulatory drafting that has our fingerprints on it, as we have made the case for sensible regulatory changes. Also, we have been adept at finding technical compromises to get different parties onboard and regulatory initiatives over the line.”

 

Currently the RINA IMO Technical Committee is involved in a number of areas, with a heavy focus on work relating to the revision of SOLAS Chapter III, which governs life-saving appliances, biofouling, the safety of new fuels and energy efficiency, among others. Edwin says: “Over the past few years we have submitted 10-20 papers a year to IMO. This is quite exceptional for any organisation, let alone one run by volunteers.”

 

RINA’s contribution to the IMO was recognised by the IMO secretary-general, Arsenio Dominguez, at the 2024 Annual Dinner. In his speech, he said that he had asked his team to summarise RINA’s work, and they sent him pages and pages of information, which he flipped through on stage. He reiterated to his team that he just wanted a summary, to which the reply was: “That is the summary!”

 

Edwin Pang

In the alternative fuels space, RINA, heavily supported by the Maersk Mc-Kinney Møller Center for Zero Carbon Shipping, is helping to develop a global maritime fuel certification system through the IMO to provide assurance on the GHG credentials of alternative fuels supplied as bunker fuels. Edwin says: “We took on the responsibility for coordinating the drafting of a certification framework even though it isn’t core naval architectural competence, simply because it needed to be done. When we first flagged it, there were very few who recognised the importance of such a framework and were willing to engage.”

 

Draft guidelines will be presented to the IMO’s MEPC Committee in April, now with widespread input from many member states and NGOs, and hopefully will enable certification schemes to be audited and recognised by IMO in due course. “This broadly sums up the approach that RINA has taken at the IMO – identifying needs and proposing solutions,” Edwin says.

 

The emergence of alternative fuels as part of the industry’s drive to net zero is a significant challenge. “The technical and safety issues are solvable,” says Edwin, “but there is such a rush to embrace new fuels and associated technology that perhaps the rules and regulations as well as crew training have some way to catch up. The pressure to achieve rapid change is in itself a risk.”

 

Some of the key things that Edwin says he has learned in his career include the importance of connecting practice with theory, the necessity of compromise in design and the need to see the wider picture. “Naval architects often think of safety in terms of design and hardware, but the role of the human element is equally, if not more, important. Issues such as crew training are certainly something we need to remember when we are regulating in an era of new fuels.”

 

Looking back on his 25 years of experience in ship design, what advice would he give to anyone starting out in naval architecture? He says: “There are so many aspects to naval architecture, so be curious and gain experience in as many of them as you can. Just because you have specialised in something for 10 years doesn’t mean you might not do something else later. It is important to get a range of experiences and to achieve a balance between generalist and specialist.”

 

This article appeared in Professional Profile, TNA Mar/Apr 2026

Researchers at MIT have demonstrated that small wedge-shaped vortex generators fitted to a ship’s hull can reduce drag by up to 7.5%, offering a practical and potentially low-cost route to cutting fuel consumption and emissions.

 

The findings were presented at the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers’ Maritime Convention in Norfolk, Virginia. The research team, drawn from MIT Sea Grant, the Department of Mechanical Engineering, and the Center for Bits and Atoms, used a combination of computational fluid dynamics, AI-assisted optimisation and physical scale model testing to identify the most effective vortex generator geometry.

 

The process began with extensive parametric analysis through computational fluid dynamics to establish design trends, before multiple hull variants were produced through rapid prototyping and tested experimentally to validate the computational results.

 

Three configurations were evaluated: a bare hull tail, a tail fitted with delta-wing vortex generators, and a tail fitted with wedge vortex generators. The wedge design emerged as the strongest performer, achieving attached flow along the hull with a lower skin friction coefficient than the delta variant.

Initial experimental setup showing the submerged axisymmetric model attached to the towing carriage

 

By delaying turbulent flow separation, the devices help water travel more smoothly along the hull, significantly reducing the size of the vessel’s wake. The resulting uniformity of flow also allows the propeller and rudder to operate more efficiently, compounding the overall performance benefit.

 

Lead researcher Michael Triantafyllou, professor of mechanical engineering and director of MIT Sea Grant, noted it was the first time a fuel reduction from vortex generators had been demonstrated experimentally on a ship hull. While vortex generators have been used for decades in aircraft wing design to maintain lift and delay stalling, their application to commercial shipping had not previously been validated at this level.

 

The team estimated that retrofitting the devices to a 300m Newcastlemax bulk carrier operating at 14.5knots on a trans-Pacific route would yield fuel savings of approximately US$750,000 per year, alongside a meaningful reduction in emissions. The modular nature of the wedge generators means they could be applied across a broad range of hull forms, including tankers and bulk carriers, and are compatible with existing drag-reduction technologies such as pre-swirl stators, which they could complement or, in some cases, replace.

 

The practical appeal of the technology lies in its retrofit potential. Rather than requiring newbuild designs, the vortex generators could be integrated into existing vessels, offering shipowners a relatively straightforward path to improved efficiency at a time when the IMO’s target of reducing carbon intensity by at least 40% against 2008 levels by 2030 is placing the industry under growing pressure to act.

 

The research was supported by the CBA Consortium in collaboration with Oldendorff Carriers, which operates around 700 bulk carriers worldwide, with further work backed by the MIT Maritime Consortium, established in 2025 to drive interdisciplinary research into the modernisation of the commercial fleet.

 

This article appeared in Features, TNA Mar/Apr 2026

 

From left: Visualisations of hull setups; experimental flow visualisation using dye, compared to CFD flow visualisation at a speed of 1.3m/s; Tail 3, the best performing configuration

 

For most commercial vessels, frictional resistance accounts for between 50 and 92% of total hydrodynamic resistance, a figure that has defined naval architecture for generations. Hull-form refinement, low-friction coatings and reduction of wetted surface area have all pushed that figure down, but each successive gain is harder won. As designs approach established practical limits, the engineering community is looking elsewhere.

 

The regulatory context sharpens the urgency. The Energy Efficiency Existing Ship Index and the Energy Efficiency Design Index are demanding measurable, demonstrable gains. Even a 5-10% reduction in skin friction translates directly into reduced propulsion power demand, lower specific fuel oil consumption and improved headroom against compliance thresholds, figures that fleet operators and designers are watching closely.

 

Active flow control, techniques that modify boundary-layer behaviour dynamically rather than passively, represents one of the most technically promising avenues remaining. It is in this space that a new approach, based on a well-known but underexploited fluid dynamics phenomenon, is attracting attention.

 

Figure 1: Concept of Coandă-effect water jets on ship hull (reproduced from patent, US 12,280,854 B2, System and Method for Reducing Drag on the Hull of a Vessel)

The Coandă effect in water

The Coandă effect describes the tendency of a fluid jet to adhere to an adjacent curved or flat surface. The mechanism is well understood in aerodynamics: entrainment of surrounding fluid by the jet creates a localised pressure drop between jet and surface, bending the jet toward the surface and sustaining its attachment. What is less commonly exploited is that the effect operates in liquid flows as well as gaseous ones.

 

The system described here, protected under US Patent 12,280,854 B2 (2024), directs high-velocity water jets along the hull surface at shallow incidence angles, with jet momentum sufficient to dominate the local near-wall flow field. Under these conditions, the jet adheres to the hull surface and travels with it, the precondition for everything that follows.

 

The low-pressure region is generated dynamically by the jet, not imposed by hull geometry. That distinction is fundamental.

 

From surface attachment to vacuum air sheet

As the surface-attached jet travels along the hull, entrainment continuously reduces static pressure in the near-wall region, forming a sustained low-pressure line. This low-pressure region is not a consequence of hull form – it is generated dynamically by the jet–surface interaction, and it persists as long as the jet operates. The distinction matters: it means the air entrainment mechanism is active and controllable, not a fixed function of hull geometry.

 

Before crossing the waterline, the free jet naturally entrains atmospheric air through its shear layer. As the jet penetrates the free surface and travels down the hull, it carries this entrained air with it, forming a submerged vacuum air sheet, a continuous, surface-attached layer of air between hull plating and the surrounding water. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis using volume-fraction contours confirms that this sheet achieves near-complete air coverage (volume fraction approaching 1.0) over substantial hull areas.

 

Figure 2: Demonstration of the below-water Coandă jets concept system on a VLLC model

Where the system departs significantly from conventional air lubrication systems is in the character of the air layer itself. Pressurised bubble injection produces buoyancy-dominated bubbles that migrate vertically and disperse away from the hull surface, requiring continuous replenishment and exhibiting inherently inconsistent coverage. The vacuum air sheet produced by jet-induced entrainment is flow-controlled rather than buoyancy-dominated. Because the entrained air moves with the hull-mounted jet, and therefore at vessel speed, it remains attached to the hull surface, resisting the rapid vertical migration that compromises conventional systems.

 

Pressure mechanics and operational stability

Pressure distribution measurements across the air sheet, perpendicular to the hull, reveal a distinct negative pressure peak near the hull surface, recovering toward ambient conditions further out. This sub-atmospheric core is the entrainment-driven vacuum that holds the sheet in place. On the outer boundary of the air sheet, the vessel’s passage through the water creates a relative flow that acts as a pressure barrier, further resisting disruption of the layer.

 

Longitudinally, the air sheet exhibits a pressure gradient: lower at the forward end, recovering towards the stern. Importantly, the sheet conforms to hull form contours irrespective of local curvature, which has direct implications for applicability across vessel types. Nozzles can be positioned along bow, midship, bottom, and stern sections; pump configurations can be selectively activated; and jet incidence angles and operating pressures are adjustable to optimise the balance between power input and air-layer behaviour.

 

Retrofit potential and practical implications

The system’s surface-following character, combined with its independence from hull-integrated air plenums or distribution networks, makes it technically suitable for retrofit. The nozzle assemblies attach to existing hull structure; no cavity machining or major structural modification is required. This is a meaningful practical advantage over cavity-based air lubrication systems, which typically require dry-dock integration during newbuild or major conversion.

 

Where the air sheet achieves full coverage, the system offers zero skin friction in that region, and the hull is effectively isolated from the surrounding water. The question of net energy benefit, however, requires careful analysis: pump power demand must be offset against propulsive power savings, and this balance is expected to be vessel-type and speed-dependent. Also, when the entire wetted area of a vessel is covered with vacuum air sheets, a feasible objective, then vessel speed can be increased dramatically. The Coandă effect fluid jet system can be fitted to any size vessel.

 

Figure 3: CFD analysis for the generated air sheet represented by contours of volume fractions, 0 being water and 1 being 100% air
Figure 4: Single jet fixed below waterline contours of volume fraction (left) and isosurface of 0.5 volume fraction (right)
Figure 5: Pressure distribution across the air sheet (perpendicular to the hull) showing the negative pressure region

Open questions and the road ahead

We are transparent about what remains to be characterised. Scaling behaviour from model to full-scale needs to be established systematically. Interaction of the air sheet with surface roughness and biofouling, which alter near-wall turbulence structure, requires dedicated study. Long-term operational stability under varying sea states, trim, and loading conditions represents another gap in the current dataset. However, since the air sheet adheres to the hull, then we believe this system will perform best-in-class when it comes to vessel motions.

 

The most technically intriguing near-term development is the investigation of pulsed Coandă jets as an alternative to continuous operation. Evidence from related flow-control research suggests that pulsed jets preserve momentum more efficiently and reduce average power consumption, while potentially improving air transport across the air–water interface. Future CFD work is being planned in this area.

 

As a concept, Coandă-based jet-induced air entrainment occupies a distinct position in the friction-reduction landscape: neither a passive surface treatment nor a conventional pressurised air system, but a form of active multiphase boundary-layer manipulation with its own physical principles. Whether it can deliver net energy gains at operational scale, and at what cost per vessel type, will determine its place in the toolkit available to naval architects navigating an increasingly demanding regulatory environment.

 

Note:

Khaled M Karmous is the named inventor of US Patent 12,280,854 B2, System and Method for Reducing Drag on the Hull of a Vessel, 2024.

 

Khaled M Karmous is a mechanical engineer, who graduated from North Carolina State University. He has more than 30 years' experience in oil and gas drilling operations and engineering, and now focuses on developing and advancing practical engineering inventions.

 

With thanks for the help of Mohamed Hussain, PhD, PE, who specialises in marine hydrodynamics, multiphase CFD, and innovative energy-saving concepts, with a focus on reducing hull drag and improving energy efficiency solutions for the shipping industry.

 

This article appeared in Features, TNA Mar/Apr 2026

*This is an extended version of the RINA Event article by the same name, first published online 27 Feb 2026.

 

“Wind propulsion technologies are the only solution that actually pay for themselves,” said Gavin Allwright, secretary general of the International Windship Association (IWSA), during his keynote speech at Wind Propulsion 2026. The statement captured the commercial logic increasingly underpinning wind propulsion technologies. 

 

Held on 17–18 February at Convene 133 Houndsditch in London, the conference opened to a sold-out audience, a clear sign of the growing centrality of wind propulsion within maritime decarbonisation strategy.

 

Hosted by RINA in association with the IWSA, the event continues to serve as an important early-year marker in the decarbonisation calendar, setting context ahead of further debate at gatherings such as RINA’s Ship Energy Efficiency Conference in Athens.

 

Gold sponsorship came from DNV, with silver sponsors including Lloyd’s Register and Vaisala, underscoring the degree to which wind propulsion is now embedded within mainstream classification, verification and risk management frameworks. Bronze sponsorship was provide by Mitsui O.S.K. Lines.

 

Still optimistic

An underlying theme on the first day of the conference was the industry’s response to the recent impasse at the latest IMO MEPC meeting. Conference attendees remain optimistic that it would not prevent wind-propulsion technology from developing apace, despite a hoped-for consensus on mid-term greenhouse gas measures not being reached in 2025. 

IMO’s David Osborn gives the keynote speech

 

In one of the conference’s opening speeches, Aakash Dua, regional business development director at DNV, framed the broader challenge that new fuels and technologies are introducing uncertainty into the system, but that also provides new opportunities to evolve. Decarbonisation, he argued, is not a “chicken and egg” dilemma but a full-system transformation requiring early dialogue rather than competition between sectors. The pathway must be “safe, scalable and irreversible”.

 

That framing set the stage for the keynote from David Osborn, director, Marine Environment Division, IMO, whose remarks carried particular weight given the recent regulatory turbulence (see ‘The wind is with us’, page 38 TNA Mar/Apr 2026, for more).

 

In the technical streams, presentations examined verification methodologies, digital twins and performance modelling, all essential for translating projected savings into bankable outcomes. The integration of wind systems into hull design, manoeuvring standards and structural assessments featured prominently. Post-presentation panel discussions agreed that as installations scale, wind devices must be treated as part of vessel architecture rather than appendages.

 

The Policy and Regulation roundtable that followed also revealed a more candid assessment of the current moment. Chaired by Stefano Scarpa, director of maritime decarbonisation, ABL Group, the discussion began with what he described as the “big shock” of the most recent MEPC meeting. Regulations had not been approved; consensus had fractured. Yet, he argued, work on practical implementation must continue regardless.

 

Decarbonisation is a matter of “when, not if,” argued David Connolly, head of operations, UMAS, who also suggested the outcome of the previous MEPC meeting was less surprising than some perceived. Connolly stated that while the regulatory trajectory may be uneven, directionally it remains clear. 

Audience questions to the legal panel; and, right, music from John Taukave

 

John Taukave, policy advisor, Micronesian Center for Sustainable Transport, provided a stark reminder of the stakes: “Every delay is an existential delay for the communities of the Pacific.” He made it clear that for small island developing states, wind propulsion is not merely a commercial efficiency tool but part of a broader zero-carbon transition framework, and one that also reconnects with long maritime traditions of wind-powered navigation.

 

The concept of a just and equitable transition surfaced repeatedly. How does wind propulsion contribute not only to emissions reduction but also to inclusive decarbonisation pathways? The Marshall Islands’ historic and cultural relationship with wind-powered vessels was cited as a powerful symbolic and practical reference point.

 

Connolly argued that a “fundamental reset” may be necessary: newbuilds should be prepared for wind in the same way they are increasingly designed to accommodate alternative fuels. Wind should not remain an afterthought retrofit, but a design consideration from the outset.

 

Parallel presentation streams throughout the first day demonstrated that scaling wind propulsion requires more than aerodynamic efficiency.

 

The letter of the law

Elsewhere, legal and contractual risk was scrutinised. Professor Orestis Schinas, specialist in ship finance, HHX.blue, chaired a roundtable on how construction contracts, charterparty arrangements and insurance frameworks must evolve.

 

Dr Pia Rebelo, legal analyst at Stephenson & Harwood, noted that contractual obligations will require reshuffling as wind propulsion becomes embedded in design and regulatory compliance. New areas of risk, performance guarantees, downtime exposure, repair and logistics must be allocated clearly.

 

The complexity of maritime contractual relationships, voyage charters, time charters, sale contracts and bills of lading remain “incredibly antagonistic” in places. Introducing new propulsion technologies adds further friction.

 

François Luigi, client director, Filhet Allard, observed that insurers do not fear risk; they fear uncertainty. The challenge lies in limited repair infrastructure, sparse spare parts networks and geographically dispersed manufacturing. Data, therefore, becomes central to risk assessment and premium stability.

Attendees were optimistic about wind propulsion technology

 

Wind takes off

Gavin Allwright’s keynote on the morning of the second day placed wind propulsion within a pragmatic commercial frame. Ninety-three large vessels are now operating with wind systems, representing around 5 million dwt, with a further 120 installations in the pipeline, the majority expected in 2026. The sector, he suggested, is “rapidly approaching an inflection point,” where operational data, production capacity and commercial familiarity begin reinforcing one another.

 

Framing wind not as a novelty but as continuity, he observed, “we are coming back to an energy source that has been there forever – we’re just doing it better.” At the same time, he was clear that integration matters: “If we take energy efficiency, voyage optimisation and wind together, cumulatively, we’re getting close” to longer-term decarbonisation targets.

 

“If the shipping industry doesn’t see a way to make money, these will fail,” he cautioned. But, wind propulsion’s distinguishing feature is its ability to deliver measurable savings now, he stated, layered alongside CII compliance, FuelEU Maritime incentives and EU ETS exposure.

 

The Shipowners’ Debate, overseen by Dimitris Monioudis, Technical Committee chair, INTERCARGO, reinforced that this is no longer theoretical.

 

“It’s quite complex to really put the two lines under the answer of how much you’re saving,” observed Jan Opedal, project manager, Odjfell Tankers, who described a decarbonisation journey rooted in fuel efficiency long before regulatory compulsion intensified. With incremental measures largely exhausted, suction sails were introduced as a next step. Yet quantifying savings precisely was noted as still being complex.

 

Union Maritime’s commercial performance manager, Jesse Bryce, described a portfolio approach across vessel classes, embedding flexibility into newbuild foundations. “If things look good, the price looks good, the performance looks good, and we can get it on the ship, why not?,” he stated. 

Gavin Allwright: wind propulsion is “rapidly approaching an inflection point”

 

Sights set on safety

Concluding the conference, the roundtable on safety and hazards reinforced that scaling must not outpace safeguards.

The panellists explained that crew require understanding of wind dynamics; and simulator training and updated company procedures must align with regulatory development. Again, focus was placed on the IMO, which faces a deadline to produce a dedicated safety code for wind-assisted propulsion, and has acknowledged gaps in expertise. Collaboration between class, insurers and owners was also emphasised as essential.

 

Redundancy, including retention of conventional propulsion systems, was framed as reasonable and necessary. Commercial realities, cargo considerations and operational risk must be balanced carefully.

 

Wind Propulsion 2026 demonstrated the scale and industrial growth of the segment within the maritime sector, technically, commercially and institutionally. While regulatory uncertainty remains, deployment across the global fleet continues.

 

The narrative has shifted from “if” to “how”.

 

As Osborn cautioned, maintaining course matters. But as Allwright argued, commercial logic must underpin ambition.

 

This article appeared in Conference News, TNA Mar/Apr 2026.

Shipbuilding has always absorbed the technologies of its era, from iron hulls to diesel propulsion to computer-aided design. The current transition is no different in kind, but it is different in scale. Digitalisation and artificial intelligence (AI) are not simply new tools added to an existing process, they are reshaping the logic of how vessels are conceived, built and operated. For shipyards that move quickly, the competitive implications are substantial.

 

Machine learning algorithms can evaluate thousands of hull configurations, propulsion options and internal layouts in the time it would take a design team to assess a handful. Predictive analytics can flag structural risks and schedule delays before they materialise on the shop floor. The effect is not just faster work, but qualitatively better decisions, made earlier, when they are still cheap to act on.

 

The design imperative

Design typically accounts for 5 to 10% of a vessel’s total production cost, yet that investment determines roughly 85% of final construction expenditure and conditions nearly 90% of operational performance across the vessel’s lifetime. The early decisions made regarding hull form, structural approach, propulsion and energy systems cascade through every subsequent phase. Getting them right is not merely a design office concern, it is the single greatest lever available to improve project economics.

 

Fragmented or linear workflows are no longer adequate to manage this responsibility. The interdependence between hull, structure, mechanical systems, piping and electrical architecture means that changes in one domain propagate unpredictably through others. AI-assisted integrated design environments address this directly: optimising weight distribution, identifying interference risks between components, and running multiphysics simulations that analyse several interacting physical phenomena simultaneously. Engineers can explore a far larger solution space in the concept phase, which is where that exploration has the highest return.

 

The traditional spiral design model, iterating sequentially through concept, preliminary and detailed phases, struggles to accommodate this level of interdisciplinary integration. A model-based approach, closer to the V-model used in other advanced engineering disciplines, better reflects how modern design actually works: in parallel, with continuous validation against requirements rather than staged handoffs.

 

Dr Rodrigo Pérez Fernández is senior director for software engineering at Siemens Digital Industries Software

Digital twins across the lifecycle

The digital twin has become a central concept in next-generation shipbuilding, although its value depends entirely on how it is implemented. A static geometric model is not a digital twin in any meaningful sense. The useful version is a live, data-enriched representation of the vessel that is updated throughout its lifecycle, first with design and simulation data, then with construction data, and finally with operational data from IoT sensors monitoring systems at sea.

 

This continuous feedback loop changes the economics of both construction and operation. Validating vessel behaviour under a wide range of conditions before the first steel plate is cut reduces costly late-stage design changes. Once in service, condition-based monitoring and predictive maintenance strategies, driven by real-time sensor data, can extend equipment lifespan and reduce unplanned downtime. Crucially, the operational data also feeds back into future design processes, improving the accuracy of the models used on the next vessel.

 

Underpinning all of this is what practitioners call the digital thread: a single, authoritative data environment that consolidates mechanical, electrical, piping and structural design into one system. Global teams work from the same model regardless of location or time zone, eliminating the version-control failures and conflicting drawings that have historically generated rework. The digital thread does not just accelerate the process; it changes its error profile, removing entire categories of mistake.

 

AI in the shipyard

The application of AI extends well beyond the design office. On the production floor, AI-driven planning systems optimise construction sequences, predict schedule risk and identify inefficiencies before they compound. Computer vision algorithms inspect welds and component alignment in real time, catching defects that human inspectors may miss under production-line conditions and that, if left undetected, become exponentially more expensive to rectify.

 

The integration of machine learning into computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations is particularly significant. CFD has long been a bottleneck in hull optimisation, computationally expensive and therefore limited in how many alternatives a design team can practically evaluate. Machine-learning-accelerated CFD dramatically shortens computation times, allowing iterative hull form optimisation across resistance, energy efficiency and fuel consumption without proportionally increasing engineering cost.

 

Augmented and virtual reality tools are changing workforce training and assembly guidance. Rather than relying on paper drawings or static digital files, technicians can work with spatially accurate overlays that guide complex assembly tasks, reducing errors and accelerating the learning curve for less experienced workers. As yards compete for skilled labour in a tight market, these tools have operational as well as quality implications.

 

Challenges that remain

None of this is straightforward to implement. Technological interoperability, getting legacy systems, supplier data and new platforms to communicate cleanly, remains a significant operational headache. Initial investment costs are substantial and the return on investment, while real, is distributed over years rather than visible in a single project. Cybersecurity risks increase as shipyard infrastructure becomes more connected. And workforce transformation requires sustained investment in training that many yards have historically under-resourced.

 

Regulatory compliance adds another layer of complexity. IMO emission reduction targets – 70 to 80% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2040 and net zero by 2050 – create design requirements that did not exist a decade ago. Meeting those targets while managing cost and schedule pressure demands exactly the kind of multi-variable optimisation that AI tools are best suited to support. But it also requires regulatory frameworks to keep pace with the technologies being adopted, which is not always the case.

 

Product Lifecycle Management solutions have proven their value in managing the data complexity associated with these challenges. Yards that have centralised their data environments report improved resilience against supply chain disruptions, better customisation capability for client requirements, and more reliable planning processes. The pandemic-era supply chain failures accelerated adoption in a number of cases, demonstrating that digital integration is not just a competitive advantage but an operational necessity.

 

The direction of travel

The convergence of naval engineering and AI is not a future prospect – it is already visible in yards across Europe, Asia and the Americas. Digital twins are reducing construction time and cost. AI is cutting material waste and catching operational issues before delivery. Simulation tools are informing maintenance planning in military and commercial contexts alike. The technology is available; the differentiating variable is the organisational will and capability to deploy it effectively.

 

The next step in this evolution is the genuinely paperless vessel – not just a ship designed without drawings, but one operated and maintained through precise digital records, live system data and AI-supported decision-making throughout its service life. That is a more significant transformation than the industry has seen in generations, and the yards that position themselves for it now will have an advantage that compounds over time.

 

For naval architects, this shift redefines the scope of the discipline. The skills required to design a hull remain essential; the skills required to model its behaviour in a connected digital environment, and to interpret what that model tells you, are becoming equally so. The best engineering judgement has always been informed by the best available data. The change is that the data is now better, faster and more comprehensive than anything the industry has previously worked with.

 

This article appeared in Features, TNA Mar/Apr 2026

American shipbuilder Davie Defense has been awarded a contract by the United States Coast Guard to construct five Arctic Security Cutters (ASC), a new class of polar icebreaker intended to strengthen US presence in the High North. The award, announced in early 2026, forms part of a wider programme of up to 11 vessels authorised by Presidential Memorandum and represents one of the most significant US polar shipbuilding contracts in a generation.

 

The ASC is a substantial vessel: 99.9m in length, 21m in beam, displacing 9,000tonnes at normal operating draught of 7m. Ice Class PC3 rated, she is designed to maintain 3knots through 1.5m of ice. A diesel-electric propulsion system delivers 22MW of total installed power through two azimuth thrusters of 6.5MW each, supplemented by two 1.3MW bow thrusters, generating a bollard pull of 150tonnes.

 

Two independent engine rooms provide redundancy critical for operations in remote polar waters. Top speed is 16knots, with a range exceeding 6,500nm at 12knots in normal operating mode, extending beyond 12,000nm in high endurance configuration at deeper draught.

 

Endurance is up to 60 days, with accommodation for up to 124 crew and passengers. Mission payload capacity stands at 650m² of covered and uncovered main deck space, capable of carrying up to 17 TEU, ground vehicles, unmanned systems and boats. The vessel also carries a helicopter platform and hangar sized for the MH-60 and UAVs.

 

The design draws on a proven platform with seven previous variants delivered from Helsinki Shipyard, accumulating a combined 85 years of winter operation in Arctic regions. One vessel from the existing fleet has transited the Northeast Passage unescorted in 8.5 days, a data point that speaks directly to the platform’s operational credibility in the conditions the Coast Guard requires.

 

The programme’s construction strategy is split across two countries. To meet the accelerated delivery schedule, the first two hulls will be built at Helsinki Shipyard in Finland, a sister facility within the UK-owned Inocea maritime group, targeting delivery of the inaugural vessel in 2028. The remaining three cutters will follow at Davie’s facilities in Galveston and Port Arthur, Texas, yards acquired from Gulf Copper & Manufacturing in 2025 and bringing over 75 years of Gulf Coast fabrication experience.

 

The rationale for opening the programme in Finland is that no active American yard has the icebreaker construction expertise needed to hit the schedule. The technology transfer dimension is therefore the most industrially significant aspect of the contract.

 

US shipbuilders will work alongside Helsinki’s specialists during the Finnish builds to develop the domestic competency needed for series production in Texas. It is an ambitious timeline, and whether Galveston and Port Arthur can absorb that knowledge base within the compressed window of the first two hulls will be the programme’s defining industrial challenge.

 

The strategic impetus is clear. Russia operates the world’s largest icebreaker fleet, including nuclear-powered vessels capable of year-round polar transit, while China has been steadily expanding its polar capabilities.

 

The United States has operated with a critically thin polar fleet for decades, and the Presidential Memorandum authorising the ASC programme reflects a belated but determined effort to address that deficit.

 

Davie Defense sits within Inocea, a privately held British marine industrial group with operations across the US, Canada and Finland. The Coast Guard’s decision to award to a group with operationally proven icebreaker heritage, rather than a domestic yard learning the discipline from scratch, reflects the urgency of the delivery timeline.

 

With Arctic competition intensifying and the Polar Security Cutter programme still unresolved, Washington needed a credible near-term answer. The ASC’s specifications and its platform’s track record suggest the design is capable of providing one. Whether the industrial strategy can match the vessel’s ambition will become clear as the first hull takes shape in Helsinki.

 

Kai Skvarla, CEO of Davie Defense, said: “We’re deeply honoured by this vote of confidence. We can’t wait to get started on delivering mission-ready cutters to our valued US Coast Guard partner. By anchoring construction in Texas, while drawing on Helsinki Shipyard’s proven icebreaker expertise, we can deliver the ASCs to meet the Coast Guard’s operational needs in the world’s harshest environments.”

 

This article appeared in In depth, TNA Mar/Apr 2026

 

ARCTIC SECURITY CUTTER STATISTICS
Length	99.9m
Breadth	21m
Draught	6.5m-7.9m
Normal operation mode	7m draught
High endurance/max cargo mode	7.6m draught
Displacement	9,000tonnes
Ice Class PC3	1.5m ice@3knots. Breaks ice 5ft thick @3knots ahead and astern
Speed	16knots
Range	6,500+nm @12knots, normal operational mode; 12,000+nm @12knots, high endurance mode
Endurance	up to 60days
Crew/PAX	max 124
Machinery	Diesel-electric total installed power 22MW, two independant engine rooms
Propulsion	Azimuth thrusters (2x 6.5MW), bow thrusters (2x 1.3MW), bollard pull 150tonnes
Seakeeping	Roll reduction tanks for roll damping
Helicopter	Platform and hanger for MH-60 and UAVs
Mission payload capacity	650m2 covered/uncovered main deck space; e.g. 17TEU, ground vehicles, UXVs, boats
Large deck cranes	Loading and unloading; launch and recovery
Enclosed reconfigurable mission space	e.g. for medical treatment, disaster relief, vehicle transport, special mission equipment

 

 

There is a temptation, amid the complexity of global shipping regulation and the slow grind of intergovernmental negotiation, to conclude that the maritime sector’s decarbonisation agenda has stalled. That temptation should be firmly resisted. The wind has not gone out of the sails of maritime decarbonisation, and those who work in wind propulsion are among the clearest proof of it.

 

That was the central message I brought to the Wind Propulsion Conference, hosted jointly by the International Windship Association and the Royal Institution of Naval Architects in February. Speaking to an audience of naval architects, operators and technology developers, people who have committed careers and capital to the practical deployment of wind-assisted propulsion, I wanted to make one point above all others: progress continues, and we must maintain our course.

 

The IMO’s World Maritime Day theme for 2026 and 2027, ‘From Policy to Practice: Powering Maritime Excellence’, captures precisely the challenge and the opportunity. It is not enough to have agreed ambitious targets. The real work lies in turning collective regulatory decisions into real-world results that deliver tangible benefits for the sector and for the planet. No single organisation can do that alone. It requires administrations, classification societies, naval architects, shipowners, operators and individual mariners all pulling in the same direction.

 

Wind propulsion sits squarely within that ‘policy to practice’ agenda. It is a mature, cost-effective solution to reducing greenhouse gas emissions from international shipping and, crucially, it is available today. Not in 10 years’ time. Not in five years. Now.

 

The regulatory framework that underpins this is already well established. For more than a decade, IMO has developed and strengthened a suite of energy efficiency standards – the Energy Efficiency Design Index, the Energy Efficiency Existing Ship Index, the Carbon Intensity Indicator, and the Ship Energy Efficiency Management Plan – that have delivered concrete results.

 

Taken together, these measures have reduced the carbon intensity of international shipping by more than 38%, compared with 2008 levels. Ships today emit roughly 38% less CO₂ for the same transport work than they did at the start of this century. That is a significant achievement, and one that is too often overlooked in debate dominated by what remains to be done.

 

Market data reinforces the direction of travel. According to recent figures from Clarksons Research, nearly half the global fleet, 47% of world tonnage, is now fitted with at least one energy-saving technology. The trend towards further uptake is clear and accelerating. Wind propulsion technologies are part of that picture, and the industry’s investment in them continues to grow.

 

I must be clear on one point: IMO is technology neutral. The Secretariat does not promote or discourage any particular solution. There is no silver bullet and no one-size-fits-all pathway. Multiple routes to decarbonisation will coexist, and that is as it should be. What the regulatory framework must do, and what it is actively being designed to do, is ensure that all fuels and technologies are treated fairly and consistently, based on their well-to-wake emissions.

 

This is where wind propulsion faces both an opportunity and a challenge. In January 2026, the IMO’s Sub-Committee on Ship Design and Construction developed a draft safety workplan for greenhouse gas-reducing technologies, explicitly including wind propulsion. That workplan will go to the Maritime Safety Committee for approval in May 2026. It marks an important step: the formal integration of wind technologies into IMO’s safety framework, providing the regulatory clarity that owners and operators need to invest with confidence.

SC Connector has Norsepower Rotor Sails (image: Alamy)

 

On the regulatory horizon, the picture is more complex. Discussions on the next set of measures under the IMO Net-Zero Framework were adjourned last October. This was not a retreat from ambition. The commitment among Member States and industry to global regulation remains strong. But it created additional time, and that time is being used. MEPC 84, scheduled for April 2026, will continue discussions on the way forward, including the greenhouse gas fuel intensity (GFI) reduction requirements that will form the core of the next regulatory package.

 

Within that work, the development of GFI Calculation Guidelines is giving due consideration to the inclusion and fair treatment of wind propulsion, a recognition that its contribution to fuel saving must be properly accounted for if owners are to have the certainty they need. Contributions from the International Windship Association have been genuinely valuable here, helping to shape how the GFI will function in practice. That kind of direct industry engagement with the regulatory process is exactly what is needed.

 

Yet there is a shadow over the progress. Despite the improvement in carbon intensity, total fuel consumption by ships has remained broadly stable in recent years. Absolute greenhouse gas emissions have not yet declined significantly. Efficiency gains are being absorbed by growth in trade and fleet size. This is why the next regulatory package matters so much, and why inaction is not an option.

 

For naval architects and marine engineers, the message is one of both validation and urgency. The technologies you design, specify and integrate are not peripheral to the decarbonisation agenda, they are central to it. Wind propulsion, in particular, offers something rare in the energy transition: a proven, scalable, fuel-free reduction in emissions that can be retrofitted to existing vessels and designed into new ones. The regulatory framework is catching up. The market is moving. The only question is pace.

 

There may be diplomatic storms to navigate and regulatory mechanisms to refine, but the direction is set. We must maintain our course. The wind is with us.

 

This article appeared in Features, TNA Mar/Apr 2026

Hanwha Ocean is embedding its shipbuilding expertise directly into Canadian industry. The South Korean shipbuilder has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Ontario Shipyards and a trilateral Letter of Intent (LoI) with Ontario Shipyards and Mohawk College, establishing a technology transfer, industrial modernisation and workforce development framework in the Great Lakes region. The move is part of an effort to position itself for the Canadian Patrol Submarine Project (CPSP), one of the most consequential naval procurement decisions in Canadian history.

 

The CPSP aims to replace the Royal Canadian Navy’s ageing Victoria-class submarines with up to 12 modern vessels. Hanwha’s proposed platform is the KSS-III, a conventionally powered submarine designed for long-range operations and sustained presence at sea, including in Arctic environments, with a mature, production-ready design and lithium-ion propulsion.

 

The lithium-ion battery system offers significantly higher energy density than traditional lead-acid batteries. Combined with a fuel cell-based Air Independent Propulsion system, this advanced configuration enables the submarine to remain submerged for extended periods and sustain maximum underwater speed up to three times longer than submarines using lead-acid batteries. This system has enabled the KSS-III to set a world record for the longest continuous underwater operation by a conventional submarine. In addition, lithium-ion batteries provide longer life cycles and simplified maintenance, lowering both operational and sustainment costs.

 

Hanwha Ocean claims the programme would generate 200,000 job-years over 15 years and support approximately 15,000 jobs per year on average across a pan-Canadian industrial alliance of more than 100 companies.

 

Left: Hanwha’s Geoje shipyard has built more than 1,400 vessels since 1973. Right: Mohawk College will teach welding

The bilateral MoU commits Hanwha Ocean to structured technical and operational support across design and engineering, production planning, construction sequencing, quality management and smart-yard best practices. A near-term proof-of-concept is built into the agreement: Hanwha Ocean will support the design and construction of a training and recruitment vessel that Ontario Shipyards will begin building in 2026, providing a live demonstration of the partnership’s industrial intent rather than relying on declarations alone.

 

Workforce development will be addressed through the trilateral LOI, which establishes an embedded training hub at Ontario Shipyards’ Hamilton facility in partnership with Mohawk College. The college will lead programming across welding, electrical trades, marine mechanics, robotics and non-destructive evaluation. It is a curriculum mapped directly onto the skilled trades shortfall that has constrained Canadian shipbuilding for years.

 

Apprenticeship pathways will be integrated with production schedules, with applied research in automation and digital manufacturing on the agenda too. Hanwha Ocean will contribute technical advisory support and access to its global industrial networks to align training with international standards. 

 

Both documents contain conditional language tying further Hanwha investment, including a dedicated training centre and expanded supply chain engagement, to the award of the CPSP contract.

Front row, from left: Paul Armstrong, president of Mohawk College, Hee-cheul Kim, president and CEO of Hanwha Ocean, and Shaun Padulo, president and CEO of Ontario Shipyards, pictured with other attendees (back row) after signing a Letter of Intent

 

Hanwha has been active across Canada, with Quebec’s minister of international relations, Christopher Skeete, visiting the Geoje shipyard in February, and Canadian yard leaders separately touring the facility to discuss collaboration and MRO opportunities. Hanwha’s Geoje shipyard covers 5km², employs more than 31,000 people and has delivered more than 1,400 vessels since 1973, including submarines and surface combatants for the Republic of Korea Navy.

 

Ontario Shipyards, the largest ship repair and construction company on the Great Lakes, now has facilities at Hamilton, Port Weller and Thunder Bay.

 

The combination of Hanwha’s production systems and Ontario’s existing infrastructure represents a credible industrial base, although execution of the knowledge transfer at the pace and depth the CPSP would require remains the programme’s defining test.

 

This article appeared in In depth, TNA Mar/Apr 2026

Lloyd’s Register (LR) has verified the sea trials performance assessment methodology used by GT Wings for its AirWing Jet Sail system. This provides an independent stamp of approval for the way the company measures fuel and emissions savings from its wind-assisted propulsion technology.

 

Announced at RINA’s Wind Propulsion Conference, the verification follows nearly 10 months of commercial operation of a 20m AirWing unit onboard Vectis Progress, a general cargo vessel operated by Carisbrooke Shipping. Installed in March 2025, the system has accumulated service experience across various routes and conditions, including North Atlantic winter passages, Great Lakes transits and Caribbean voyages.

 

Lloyd’s Register confirmed that GT Wings’ methodology aligns with recognised industry standards, including ISO 19030, and ITTC performance analysis practices, and that the approach used to isolate and quantify wind propulsion benefits is technically sound for in-service evaluation.

 

Andrew Hurford, senior specialist at Lloyd’s Register, said that independent verification of such methodologies is essential to building confidence in emerging maritime technologies.

 

As wind-assisted propulsion moves towards broader commercial adoption, the ability to demonstrate performance through independently verified, standardised methods is increasingly important for shipowners, charterers and project financiers weighing the business case for such systems. GT Wings said that data collection and analysis from Vectis Progress will continue as part of its ongoing validation programme.

 

Liam Campbell, chief commercial officer at GT Wings, said: “From the start, our vision has been to drive the transition through measurable, data‐driven performance. Lloyd’s Register’s verification confirms our alignment with international standards and validates that our performance predictions are grounded in real‐world evidence. It is an important step toward scaling wind‐assisted propulsion across global shipping and strengthening confidence in this technology as a viable pathway to reducing carbon emissions.”

 

This article appeared in News, TNA Mar/Apr 2026

The Grimaldi Group has taken delivery of Grande Michigan, the eighth ammonia-ready pure car and truck carrier (PCTC) in its fleet, from China Merchants Heavy Industries Jiangsu. Built to 220m in length with a beam of 38m, a gross tonnage of 93,145 and a service speed of 18knots, the vessel continues a fleet renewal programme that has established Grimaldi as one of the more technically progressive operators in the automotive shipping sector.

 

Across its 14 decks, Grande Michigan has a maximum capacity of 9,000 car equivalent units, with stowage arrangements capable of accommodating battery electric vehicles alongside those running on conventional fuels, a flexibility that has become a commercial requirement as the automotive sector’s transition to electrification continues at uneven pace across different markets.

 

The vessel is fitted with a gate rudder, a configuration first introduced to the PCTC sector on Grande Shanghai, the lead vessel of this series, delivered in July 2025, and now standard across the class. Developed originally by Kuribayashi Steamship in Japan and licensed globally by Wärtsilä, the arrangement positions two foil-shaped blades symmetrically either side of the propeller centreline. It functions simultaneously as a post-swirl energy recovery device, capturing rotational energy from the propeller slipstream that would otherwise be lost, and as a conventional steering system, with the claimed benefit of improved low-speed manoeuvrability at the automotive terminals at which the vessel will regularly call.

 

Grimaldi claims a 50% reduction in fuel consumption compared with earlier-generation car carriers, attributing the figure to a package of efficiency measures. These include an air lubrication system reducing frictional resistance at the hull-water interface, a silicone-based foul-release hull coating, and 2,500m² of solar panels across the upper decks. Smart building management systems govern ventilation and air conditioning loads to reduce hotel power demand. The 50% figure is presented without a defined baseline vessel or operational condition and should be read as a comparative design estimate rather than a demonstrated in-service figure.

 

The main engine is electronically controlled and fitted with an exhaust gas cleaning system to limit sulphur oxide and particulate matter output. Selective catalytic reduction maintains nitrogen oxide emissions below IMO Tier III limits.

 

A lithium-ion battery energy storage system with a combined capacity of 5MWh supports onboard power management. The vessel is also fitted for cold ironing, enabling zero-emission port operations wherever shore power infrastructure is available, a capability of growing relevance as EU regulations extend onshore power supply obligations at European terminals.

 

Grande Michigan has received the Ammonia Ready notation from Italian classification society RINA, confirming that her structural arrangements, piping routing, ventilation provisions, and safety systems have been designed to facilitate future conversion to ammonia-fuelled propulsion without major structural intervention. The notation reflects the industry’s broader effort to preserve conversion optionality on newbuilds, given the current immaturity of ammonia bunkering infrastructure and the unresolved challenges surrounding the fuel’s toxicity in a shipboard environment.

 

Additional RINA notations include Green Plus, Green Star 3, Comfort Vibration, and Comfort Noise Port. The Comfort notations address habitability standards, a consideration of some weight on a vessel that will operate on a continuous deep-sea rotation.

 

Grande Michigan departed on her maiden voyage from Taicang, China, the commercial loading port proximate to the CMHI Jiangsu yard, carrying more than 7,000 cars and vans alongside more than 100 rolling units including heavy vehicles, MAFI trailers, and project cargo, bound for Mediterranean ports on Grimaldi’s Asia–Europe service.

 

The delivery extends a newbuild programme that has seen Grimaldi take eight ammonia-ready PCTCs in relatively quick succession. Whether the efficiency package’s cumulative gains can be validated under operational conditions across varied load factors and seasonal routing will be of material interest to competitors and the wider automotive logistics market.

 

This article appeared in News, TNA Mar/Apr 2026

Wärtsilä Gas Solutions has been awarded a contract to supply cargo handling and fuel gas supply systems for two new LNG bunkering vessels currently under construction at Zhejiang Xinle Shipbuilding in China.

 

The vessels, each with a capacity of 20,000m³, will be owned by a Hong Kong-based shipowner. The order was booked in Q4 2025 and reinforces Wärtsilä Gas Solutions’ position as a leading systems integrator for small-scale LNG applications.

 

The contract covers a comprehensive systems package including LNG cargo handling and fuel gas supply equipment, full system engineering and design, and integrated control and monitoring of all cargo handling operations. This level of systems integration is critical in bunkering vessel design, where operational reliability and safety margins are paramount.

 

“The use of LNG is key in enabling a green shipping future,” said Barry Yang, general manager of sales China at Wärtsilä Gas Solutions, adding that the systems offer a flexible and proven solution supporting operational efficiency for vessels bunkering LNG-fuelled ships.

 

The vessels will fill an increasingly important role in the marine energy transition. LNG continues to be adopted as a bridging fuel between conventional diesel and future zero-carbon alternatives, driving demand for purpose-built bunkering infrastructure.

 

Equipment delivery to the Zhejiang Xinle yard is scheduled to commence in Q4 2026, with both vessels expected to enter service during the latter half of 2027.

 

The number of LNG-fuelled ships in operation doubled between 2021 and 2024, with a record number of deliveries (169) in 2024, according to DNV, a Norway-based independent assurance and risk management provider. By the end of last year, 641 LNG-powered ships were in operation. According to the orderbook, this number is expected to double by the end of the decade.

 

While the bunkering infrastructure for some alternative fuels remains underdeveloped, DNV said LNG bunkering is maturing, adding that the significant gap between LNG bunkering supply and demand is expected to widen over the next five years based on the orderbook.

 

This article appeared in News, TNA Mar/Apr 2026

The UK’s Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) has appointed Rob Loder as its new chief inspector of marine accidents, succeeding Andrew Moll OBE, who retired earlier this month after 21 years at the organisation.

 

Loder’s career began at sea: after training in heavy engineering ashore, he joined the Merchant Navy, completed a rating to officer conversion course, and rose to chief engineer across a varied fleet, including oil tankers, cable ships, ferries and superyachts. He subsequently moved into fleet management, ship repair, ship build supervision and project management before a period of industry consultancy.

 

His experience spans design-adjacent disciplines such as ship-build supervision and project management alongside deep operational knowledge. Loder joined MAIB in 2020 as an inspector, progressing to principal inspector and then deputy chief inspector before his current appointment. He is a chartered engineer, marine engineer and Fellow of IMarEST.

Rob Loder, newly appointed chief inspector of MIAB

 

Headquartered in Southampton, MAIB was established in 1989 following a recommendation from the public inquiry into the Herald of Free Enterprise disaster in 1987, when a ro-ro passenger ferry capsized off Zeebrugge with the loss of 193 lives. It is authorised to investigate all maritime accidents in UK waters and accidents involving UK-registered ships worldwide.

 

In 2024, MAIB recorded 1,631 reports of accidents involving UK vessels worldwide or vessels within UK coastal waters, with 1,753 vessels involved.

 

Loder said: “Working alongside the outstanding MAIB team, I am committed to ensuring our work continues to drive meaningful improvements in safety across the maritime sector.”

This article appeared in News, TNA Mar/Apr 2026

Ocean transportation company Sallaum Lines has shifted toward ordering LNG newbuilds, following initial reliance on second-hand vessels for its PCTC fleet, as part of an ambitious goal to achieve net-zero operational emissions by 2050.

“The decision to order newbuilds was driven by technical and environmental performance objectives, not by cost alone,” Charbel Khoueiry, maritime sustainability manager, says. “Sallaum Lines required vessels that could fully comply with IMO Tier III, the IGF Code, EEDI Phase 3 and forthcoming CII targets, while integrating dual-fuel LNG propulsion, electric vehicle-ready cargo decks and advanced hydrodynamic features.

“These parameters would have been impossible to achieve through retrofit without extensive structural and machinery compromises. Newbuilds designed from the keel up provide optimised hull efficiency, lower emissions and long-term lifecycle compliance with current and anticipated regulations.”

Consequently, Sallaum Lines is adding six large, dual-fuel LNG PCTC newbuilds to its fleet. The first duo in the series – the 199.9m, Ocean Breeze and Ocean Explorer – were designed by Shanghai Merchant Ship Design & Research Institute (SDARI) and constructed by Fujian Mawei Shipyard, with Ocean Breeze delivered in Q3 2025 and Ocean Explorer scheduled for delivery in Q1 2026. A further four PCTCs, designed by Deltamarin are currently under construction at China Merchants Heavy Industries (CMHI) and scheduled for delivery throughout 2026-2027.

Ocean Breeze runs on LNG, MGO and VLSFO, and can operate in LNG-only, fuel oil-only or dual-fuel modes, depending on prevailing voyage or port conditions. Khoueiry explains: “We selected LNG because it offers a proven, commercially available and technically mature, low-emission pathway that complies with current environmental regulations. It eliminates SOx and PM, reduces NOx by up to 80% through exhaust gas recirculation [EGR] and lowers CO₂ by approximately 20–25%.”

At a continuous sailing speed of 17knots, the vessel is estimated to achieve a range of approximately 12,600nm when operating on LNG, 3,000nm on MGO and 7,800nm on VLSFO. Taken together, the vessel’s total potential sailing range with full tank capacity is approximately 23,400nm.

The powertrain aboard Ocean Breeze incorporates a MAN B&W main engine, rated 12,614kW at 99rpm, and three auxiliary Wärtsilä 9L20DF engines, rated 1,613kW apiece, in addition to a 200kW emergency generator. “All machinery is installed in an aft engine room with segregated LNG and ventilation spaces, in accordance with the IGF Code and ABS requirements,” says Khoueiry.

The ship is also fitted with two Type C LNG storage tanks, each featuring the capacity for about 1,768m³ of LNG.

LNG is vaporised and supplied to the engines via a dual-pressure fuel gas supply arrangement, providing high-pressure gas at approximately 315bar to the main engine and low-pressure gas to the dual-fuel generator engines.

The PCTC is equipped with a single fixed-pitch propeller and a semi-balanced twisted rudder with bulb, developed by SDARI to enhance propulsive efficiency. The vessel is designed for a service speed of 18.5knots at design draught, allowing for a 15% sea margin.

The ship was classed by ABS, achieving full IGF, ENVIRO and operational notations. “Safety features include gas-tight LNG spaces, independent ventilation, double-walled gas piping, ESD systems, CO₂ fire protection and EV fire zones with continuous detection for the hydrogen/CNG vehicle areas,” says Khoueiry. This was accompanied by crew training in LNG handling, carried out in line with IMO/IGF Code competence standards.

As another green bonus, the ship has been treated with Chugoku Marine Paints’ SEAFLO NEO SLZ low-friction antifouling coating, developed to keep the hull continuously smooth, reducing hydrodynamic drag and fuel consumption and enabling higher vessel speeds.

After decades of building purpose-designed and built ships that sometimes failed to meet requirements and often experienced significant cost overruns, the US Navy is pioneering a new approach to shipbuilding with its Landing Ship Medium (LSM) programme, an approach it hopes will enable it to quickly bring large numbers of newbuilds into service on time and on budget.

US Navy secretary John Phelan said the new approach adopted for the LSM procurement would be based on a “non-developmental design” that will not require significant adaptation.

The design selected by the Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA), Damen Shipyards Group’s LST100, has already been adopted by the Royal Australian Navy, for whom eight examples will be built in Australian yards, and will, said the Naval Sea Systems Command, “enable rapid fielding of this urgently needed capability… and shorten acquisition timelines”.

The LST100 was selected after a ‘side-by-side’ analysis of existing designs that had the potential to meet the LSM requirement. NAVSEA’s analysis of the designs was informed by technical data packages, augmented by hands-on ship visits. Up to 35 LSMs will now be built at US yards that will compete with one another for contracts to build the landing ships.

Speaking at the time that selection of the Damen design was announced, chief of naval operations Admiral Daryl Caudle said: “A year ago, the US Navy cancelled the LSM request for proposals, when the conceptual design produced bids that were simply unaffordable. We applied common sense, went back to basics, and reassessed the programme.

“We identified existing, proven designs that meet the concept of operations requirements, and then scrutinised them for producibility.”

Secretary Phelan said with the LSM decision the US Navy is “fundamentally reshaping how the Navy builds and fields its fleet”, making what he called an “operationally driven and fiscally disciplined choice”. He said with the LSM the US Navy has – for the first time – adopted what he described as a “build to print approach” that drives down cost, schedule and technical risks.

Commandant of the Marine Corps General Eric Smith said: “For the Marine Corps, the LST100 will provide an organic littoral capability in the Indo Pacific and around the world. It will provide us with a critical, inter-theatre manoeuvre asset that is able to embark and transport marines, weapons, supplies and equipment, without requiring access to a pier.”

The Secretary of the Navy described the LST100 as a 4,000tonne design, with a range of more than 3,400nm “that gives us the right balance of affordability, capability and speed”. General Smith said the LST 100’s cargo capacity, helicopter capacity and crane “make it an excellent choice for the Marine Corps’ requirement of no less than 35 medium landing ships to support naval expeditionary forces.”

Admiral Caudle said the US Navy “is incorporating a disciplined set of class standard equipment, so that the ships will be maintainable, repairable and able to meet operational availability targets”.

In July 2025, Damen received a technical data package award from NAVSEA for the LST100, and that design has now been selected as the basis for the LSM, all of which will be constructed at American yards.

The Dutch company describes the LST100 as 100.68m in length with a beam of 16m and a draught of 3.58m. Able to support a wide range of operations, with the ability to transport personnel, vehicles, equipment and cargo, the design has accommodation for 282 Marine Corps personnel.

The vessel can transit at speeds of up to 14knots, with an endurance speed of 10knots, and a range of up to 7,530nm. The LST100 is also a highly flexible unit, with a modular design that enables straightforward adaptation and upgrade without compromising the benefits of standardisation.

December 2025 saw Belgian shipowner Somtrans christen its latest delivery, the estuary-class bunker barge United LNG I, in a ceremony hosted at the Port of Antwerp. The family-run company plans to put the barge into service in February 2026, where it will be used to fulfil growing demand for LNG bunkering in various Belgian and Dutch seaports, a spokesperson for Somtrans confirms.

The 135m x 21.46m vessel has been designed for both inland waterways and coastal service up to the Port of Zeebrugge. The barge’s construction was an international affair: the hull was built in China and then transported to the Netherlands for outfitting. Here, RensenDriessen, a shipyard-independent, Dutch newbuild projects specialist, acted as the main contractor, with Heusden-based TeamCo Shipyard overseeing tank integration, engineering and final outfitting of the vessel.

Italian engineering firm Gas and Heat, which specialises in designing and building cryogenic tank systems and LNG-fuel supply systems for maritime applications, supplied the barge’s eight cylindrical, single-walled Type C LNG tanks. Each LNG tank features a capacity of 1,000m³ and has been engineered to store this alt-fuel at -165°C, and with a boil-off rate of 0.30% per day.

The tanks are pressure-rated 400kPa. According to Somtrans, the tanks will remain closed during operations, monitored by pressure and temperature sensors, and will only require direct internal checks during the barge’s five-year class inspections. The vessel’s eight cargo pumps are each rated 165m³ per hour. The barge’s LNG bunker arm measures 25m in length and has a capacity of 920m³ per hour.

Somtrans says that the completion of United LNG I ndicates how the model of hull construction in China, followed by final outfitting in Western Europe, is becoming increasingly common in European shortsea shipping.

Wim Driessen, MD of RensenDriessen, comments: “By combining efficient hull construction in China with local outfitting in Western Europe, we are now offering our hull-building expertise more widely to the shortsea shipping segment. These cylindrical LNG tanks take this project into new territory: integrating them at this scale is unique. It shows what is possible when a shipowner, contractor and yard work as one team.” TeamCo Shipyard MD Marcel Zweers adds: “This was not a standard build. The LNG systems, the tank integration, the bunkering equipment, all demanded precision.”

United LNG I features a moulded depth of 7.5m and a draught of approximately 4m, and is arranged to accommodate a crew of six. Onboard tank capacities include: 5,113m³ of ballast water; 30m³ of fresh water; and approximately 39.7m³ of fuel oil, split between one fore tank (1.7m³) and two aft tanks (19m³ each). This latter arrangement reflects the positioning of the engines, which include four MAN Rollo LNG models, each rated 525kW, at the fore of the vessel and two 800kW diesel generators and a single 117kW auxiliary diesel generator at its aft. The barge also carries two battery packs, each rated 200kWh.

Propulsion-wise, the barge incorporates two main azimuth thrusters, rated 1,305kW apiece and featuring propeller diameters of 1,900mm. These are complemented by a pair of 550kW bow thrusters.

Somtrans is now expecting delivery of a second sister barge, also under build at TeamCo Shipyard, aligned to plans to extend its bunkering capacity within the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp (ARA) region. “This comes as LNG bunker demand in Northwest Europe continues to expand, driven by new dual-fuel tonnage in the container, tanker, bulk, ro-ro and cruise segments,” the Somtrans spokesperson explains. “The global fleet of LNG-fuelled vessels continues to grow by double digits each year, driven by owners seeking cleaner operations and reliable access to alternative fuels.”

TeamCo Shipyard’s Zweers says that outfitting of the forthcoming sister, United LNG II, will commence in March 2026.

Already under construction at Manor Marine, with a scheduled launch date of June 2026, the first Oceanus17 will “have a flavour of the military about it, but be very much a dual-role vessel,” Matthew Ratsey, founder and MD of ZeroUSV, says. “The feedback we’re getting from wind farm service operators is that they want to increasingly use remote-operated vehicles [ROVs], and the Oceanus17 can function as a ‘mothership’ to launch and recover ROVs, and as a ‘comms node’, tracking the ROVs’ positions when they are deployed – which has massive benefits in not losing a single ROV.”

Ratsey adds that ZeroUSV was recently approached by a company that manages the offshore facilities for several energy majors, with a view to using a fleet of USVs to deliver post and spares to these sites, as a cost-efficient alternative to expensive helicopter hire. This is a task the forthcoming Oceanus17 could easily handle given its aft deck payload capacity of 4tonnes, Ratsey points out.

Oceanus17 will comprise an all-aluminium, 16.97m x 3.17m monohull with the ability to maintain range for more than 50 days.

One of ZeroUSV’s goals was to “compress traditional defence acquisition timelines”, where the journey from design to prototype can roll on for years, Ratsey notes. So, for the Oceanus17, ZeroUSV chose to use a ‘spiral development process’, accelerating the design, engineering and build phase by basing the new model heavily on the Oceanus12 – essentially treating the existing USV as a ‘building block’ for the newer, bigger model.

Ratsey elaborates: “We’ve taken most of the core engineering we used for the Oceanus12 – what we know works and is reliable – and asked ourselves, what is the biggest vessel we can build with this engineering package? This includes the engines, the batteries, the battery chargers and the generators used in the Oceanus12 – we designed enough capacity into those components the first time around, we can reuse them in the Oceanus17.”

Another benefit of the spiral development process is that, by using the same components as the Oceanus12, end users can utilise the same spares packages with the newer model. USV familiarisation is another bonus. The biggest boon, though, from a USV manufacturer’s perspective, is perhaps the ability to speed up necessary certification. Ratsey explains: “The fact that we’re using 95% of the same equipment from the Oceanus12 on the Oceanus17 means that, when we come to enter the Maritime and Coastguard Agency [MCA] Workboat Code 3 process, all our current mitigations and submissions are transferrable – they just apply to a slightly larger version of the vessel.”

The Oceanus17’s payload bay will measure 9m x 2.8m, and will have the capacity to accommodate a 20’ container, with power and data connection points. The USV will also feature Starlink and Iridium connectivity and will incorporate an autonomous software package provided by ZeroUSV’s long-term partner Marine AI – rated to level 4 autonomy, but future-proofed for further upgrades. In addition to the boat’s primary sensors, customers will be able to select FLIR thermal IP cameras and W-band HD radar, among other options.

While Manor Marine puts the USV together, working with materials and components pre-issued by ZeroUSV, an independent contractor will oversee the boat’s electrical fit-out. If all goes to plan, the Oceanus17 will be launched in time for this year’s Seawork expo, to be hosted in Southampton, UK between 9-11 June. Then, in July, the boat will be certified by MECAL to meet the MCA Workboat Code 3, Annex II requirements for uncrewed vessels and unlimited operations.

Military and paramilitary vessels have long used stern-based launch and recovery systems for manned vessels, but how do you launch and recover a USV, and enable multiple USVs deployed in ‘swarms’ to operate truly independently of manned vessels?

These are some of the challenges Israel-based Sealartec and its founder Amitai Peleg set out to solve, as he tells The Naval Architect. Peleg and Sealartec business development director Dov Raz describe launch and recovery as the ‘missing piece’ in USV technology development, one that USV designers and builders – and manufacturers of recovery systems, such as stern ramps and davits – have failed to address.

Whilst working for a well-known company that designed and built high-end USVs, Peleg recognised that no-one was addressing launch and recovery. He began working on an autonomous solution, subsequently raising funds for an incubator programme. The launch and recovery concept he developed has now reached the point where Sealartec is collaborating with the US Navy, Israeli Navy and BAE Systems, Huntington Ingalls Industries, IAI and MARTAC among others, and its technology has been successfully tested in the US and elsewhere, most recently in June 2025 by the Naval Surface Warfare Center, using the Stiletto, a vessel that serves as a modular testbed for emerging technology.

“Without safe, reliable launch and recovery systems that can handle USVs in adverse conditions, use of USVs is going to be severely constrained,” says Peleg. Raz adds: “We knew there was a need for a system that would remove human operators from the process, that was fully autonomous. A conventional stern ramp used to launch and recover manned rigid-hull inflatable boats is heavily dependent on a human operator’s skill and is a risky, challenging process, but when used for USVs, their design limits quickly become a critical obstacle.”

Raz continues: “Dependence on direct hull-to-ramp contact exposes manned craft to relative motion effects, impact loads and control difficulties, especially in moderate to high sea states. When a large host vessel and a small craft interact in waves, their heave and pitch motions are out of phase. Fleets using conventional or extended stern ramps report increasing risk to boat and ship beyond sea state 3. At that point, the difference in vertical displacement between the mothership’s stern and the daughter craft’s bow often exceeds 2m, with relative pitch angles of over 10°. The result is an unpredictable recovery window and an increased likelihood of impact or loss of control.

“As vessel size increases, this phase mismatch worsens. Larger ship hulls have longer natural pitch periods, which means their stern moves differently than a smaller USV. In such cases, extending the ramp’s length or depth provides little improvement, and relative motion, not geometry, becomes the limiting factor.”

When recovering unmanned units, the consequences of these constraints become potentially serious, not least because of the impact forces from a USV on the hull of a mothership. Without any form of motion compensation, they say, a 10,000kg USV re-entering a launch platform at 5-10knots can generate vertical relative motion of over 2m/s, releasing enormous impact energy, sufficient to cause structural damage and damage sensors and electronics.

 

For the full story, check out the November/December 2025 issue of The Naval Architect

A UK-based collaboration between USV developer HydroSurv, naval architect and designer BMT and South Devon College is nearing completion of a project set up to assess the benefits of electric USV operations in ports and harbours.

The ‘ROC + DOCK’ initiative has involved shoreside pilots remotely controlling South Devon College’s unmanned training vessel USV Dart – a 1.58m-long HydroSurv REAV-16 model, deployed on the River Dart—from a remote operations centre (ROC) on college grounds. Additionally, the partners have been trialling a remotely monitored, solar panel-equipped docking station, developed to recharge the USV with pure renewable energy – and all without manual intervention.

Funded through the Innovate UK Marine & Maritime Launchpad, the project aims to enable “true force multiplication of resident USVs operating across geographically separated coastal sites” while demonstrating “an integrated, end-to-end workflow that could transform how short-range environmental monitoring, inspection and surveillance missions are planned and executed – all from a centralised facility”, HydroSurv says.

ROC + DOCK commenced in early September, when the prototype docking station was deployed on the river. This station, designed internally by HydroSurv, is fitted with an automated mooring latch and has been designed to enable fully hands-off recovery of the USV, and recharging of its lithium-ion batteries. HydroSurv tells The Naval Architect: “The docking station’s power system is capable of charging [our] latest [2.5m-long] REAV-25 USV at up to 50A, to enable rapid replenishment. However, in practice, the USV will be recharged over longer periods when the vessel remains in the docking station for a few days at a time.”

At present, the docking station is designed for single-vessel support. HydroSurv adds: “The docking station control software is accessible to the vessel operator, providing the latching and unlatching system, monitored through a proximity sensor system. Charging is enabled through a contact charging system.”

BMT’s Rembrandt simulator was integrated with HydroSurv’s vessel control software, enabling remote operator training and direct control of ‘USV Dart’

Back at the ROC, pilots remotely launched and navigated USV Dart by integrating HydroSurv’s vessel control software with BMT’s Rembrandt simulator – the latter tool more traditionally used for crewed vessel training. HydroSurv elaborates: “This capability – enabling operator training in a virtual environment that precisely replicates the vessel’s handling characteristics, before transitioning to live control – represents a significant advance in ROC design. It supports both the modernisation of maritime training syllabuses and the technical evolution of uncrewed operations facilities, with enhanced human factors and situational awareness at their core.

“Being a conventional vessel simulator, the spread is relational to the layout of a commercial vessel or workboat bridge, as opposed to more conventional screen layouts seen with remotely operated uncrewed vessel spreads.”

The River Dart trials have so far included water quality assessment missions involving pre-planned routes of up to 10km in line length from the docking station. These runs were based on standardised tasks from HydroSurv’s parallel ‘Smart Waters, Clean Ports’ project, launched last year, in which REAV-16 USVs transited rivers and estuaries around the ports of Dartmouth, Falmouth and Plymouth to assess local water pollution levels.

Summing up the USV Dart trials so far, HydroSurv states: “A two-person team can now execute multiple missions from a single facility, across dispersed coastal sites, without the need for local on-water support.” HydroSurv is now looking to further develop the integration between the USV and the Rembrandt simulator. This will likely include “enhancing the live view capabilities from an improved situational awareness spread, possibly with larger seagoing systems; and [evaluating] human factors for one-to-many USV supervision approaches”, the group says.

The docking station, meanwhile, will be honed to handle HydroSurv’s larger, seagoing USVs, “as part of an onward development roadmap”, HydroSurv adds. In November, as the project enters its final phase, the group aims to identify potential savings in terms of reduced crewing/support vessel costs and emissions through using the ROC, USV and docking station, compared with typical manned vessel set-ups.

Ulstein Verft has delivered Windea Clausius, the second in Bernhard Schulte Offshore’s new series of commissioning service operation vessels (CSOVs), writes Patrik Wheater. Windea Clausius and her sister Windea Curie, delivered in June, form part of an extensive newbuild programme that began in 2023. Hulls three and four are on schedule for delivery next year and will also enter service under the Windea Offshore joint venture, established to provide integrated logistics and operations support to wind farm developers in the North Sea and Baltic.

Built to Ulstein’s SX222 platform, unveiled in early 2021, the 2,200dwt Windea Clausius combines a methanol-ready hybrid diesel-electric propulsion plant with Ulstein’s hallmark TWIN X-STERN design, which allows the vessel to operate either bow- or stern-first. Ulstein says the novel hullform improves operability, lowers energy use and enhances comfort by reducing slamming and spray loads when holding position. The TWIN X-STERN – which evolved from Ulstein’s earlier X-STERN family introduced in 2015, and leverages on the success of its X-BOW design from 2004 – is awash with hydrodynamic refinements that include optimised propeller inflow to reduce underwater noise and vibration.

Speaking in 2021, Kolbjørn Moldskred, sales manager at Ulstein Design & Solutions, said: “It’s a completely different experience to be on board. It’s built to operate in strong currents and is less limited by weather conditions. TWIN X-STERN is in the same family as our other two revolutionary hulls, X-BOW and X-STERN, and provides similar benefits, just in a different set-up optimised for the offshore wind segment.”

With an overall length of 89.6m, a 19.2m beam and a draught of 5.9m, Windea Clausius’ hull was built at the Crist Shipyard before being towed to Ulstein Verft in Norway for the final phase, which included outfitting, paint work, electrical installation, equipment integration, commissioning and sea trial. The vessel is built for a service speed of about 10knots with propulsion provided by a Kongsberg Maritime package that integrates two main US 205 azimuth propellers fore and aft with a K-Power DC Hybrid solution, K-Chief EMS/IAS and K-Line control systems for smart energy management, fuel efficiency and optimal performance in dynamic positioning (DP) operations.

Electrical power to these and other consumers is through a hybrid battery-propulsion system, supplied by Everllence, which features a trio of methanol-ready MAN 175D-MEV (variable-speed) gensets, each rated 2.2MW and equipped with an integrated MAN closed-loop selective catalytic reduction (SCR) system to optimise emissions abatement. Indeed, Matthias Müller, Bernhard Schulte Offshore MD, said the engine design “is notable for its flexible use of various fuel grades, including biofuel, and its suitability for dual-fuel methanol retrofits”.

First-in-class Windea Curie represented the first reference for the engine which, when running on methanol, can cut CO2 emissions by up to 95%, NOx by up to 80%, and SOx and particulate matter completely. Complying with IMO Tier III NOₓ-emission standards, the hybrid arrangement is also claimed to deliver up to 10% fuel savings in typical North Sea service and reduce generator operating hours, cutting maintenance costs.

Øyvind Gjerde Kamsvåg, chief designer at Ulstein, said in 2021: “The key advantage of the hull is its ability to stay in position. The secret lies below the waterline. TWIN X-STERN has main propeller units at each end, which provide maximum manoeuvrability. The hull also provides major fuel savings; we have findings from the sister patent X-STERN, which show a reduction in power consumption of up to 60% when manoeuvring stern-first compared to flat transom stern.”

Equipped with a large, height-adjustable, centrally located walk-to-work gangway and elevator tower for personnel and cargo transfers, the vessel includes a 3D motion-compensated crane for offshore lifts of up to 5tonnes. Onboard logistics are optimised with spacious storage areas and stepless access to offshore installations.

While the hull’s symmetry and twin-ended propulsion allow the ship to weather-vane naturally, maintaining heading with minimal thrust and energy demand, the bridge layout follows Ulstein’s Insight Bridge concept, combining navigation, DP, crane and gangway operations in an ergonomic, 360° workspace that improves situational awareness during complex offshore manoeuvres.

Until now, aside from some short-sea/coastal shipping applications, wind-assisted propulsion systems (WAPS) have tended to be the domain of 100m+, oceangoing vessels, including tankers and large cargo ships. So, it’s something of a surprise to see WAPS technology being applied to a patrol boat, as is the case with the New Generation Maritime Affairs Patrol Vessel (PAMNG) project, spearheaded by French naval architecture and marine engineering firm MAURIC.

Officially announced in January 2025, the PAMNG’s first steel was cut in September at Socarenam’s shipyard in Boulogne-Sur-Mer, France. The concept is for a 53.7m-long boat with a steel hull and an aluminium superstructure, powered by a diesel-electric hybrid system and a deck-mounted Wisamo wingsail, manufactured and supplied by Michelin, and featuring a surface area of 170m2.  

Delivery to the owner, the French Directorate General for Maritime Affairs, Fisheries and Aquaculture (DGAMPA), is earmarked for the second half of 2027, and the vessel will operate primarily in the Bay of Biscay, undertaking missions including maritime fisheries surveillance, pollution monitoring, enforcing compliance with environmental regulations, search and rescue operations, anti-trafficking activities and protection of French national interests. The Bay’s challenging winds and waves should make it an ideal proving ground for wind-assisted propulsion tech in real-world enforcement scenarios. 

Combined with the diesel-electric powertrain, the wingsail will help the PAMNG to achieve a maximum speed of 17knots at 85% MCR – reduced to 10knots when the vessel operates on electric alone – and overall fuel savings in the region of 15%. The PAMNG will also feature an endurance of 3,600nm at 12knots, MAURIC says.  

The Wisamo includes a telescopic and retractable carbon-fibre mast, which can be lowered when the vessel enters port or passes under bridges. The wingsail is made of a light but strong fabric like a conventional boat’s sail, and fills with air at low pressure when the mast extends. A small fan blows in air to keep the wing’s shape smooth and even, while built-in sensors enable the wing to autonomously adjust its angle to capture the right amount of wind, providing more speed, saving fuel and reducing crew workload during long patrols. The PAMNG will also incorporate solar panels for auxiliary power, as well as an active trim control system to minimise energy consumption.

For this project, MAURIC conducted a detailed arrangement study for the vessel, including an ‘optimisation loop’ – an iterative computational process, used to simulate wind, speed, fuel use and stability to inform the best positioning for the sails for optimal performance. MAURIC says: “This phase also enabled the finalisation of active and passive stabilisation systems development, through seakeeping calculations carried out to optimise the anti-roll tank with free surface effects and active fin stabilisers.” Using CFD simulations, MAURIC then designed the boat’s bulbous bow to refine the hull’s hydrodynamic performance. “These CFD studies have optimised resistance through the water and defined the vessel’s active trim control system underway, confirming a hybrid cruising speed of 10knots and maximum speed exceeding 18knots,” the company says. “This configuration ensures the energy efficiency sought for this vessel with reduced environmental footprint.” Advanced modelling also predicted reduced drag in moderate seas.

The PAMNG has been arranged for a crew of 16 and four special forces personnel, and has an autonomy of 12 days – sufficient, MAURIC says, to guarantee sea patrols for up to 200 days annually. In addition to its crew complement, the vessel will carry a pair of 6.5m-long, semi-rigid boats, capable of 35knot intercepts.  

MAURIC’s previous forays into wind-assisted propulsion include the 136m x 24.2m, sail-powered ro-ro cargo vessel Neoliner Origin, which was launched by RMK Marine’s shipbuilding facility in Turkey earlier this year, and which made its first transatlantic voyage in October. 

Recent incidents in which pipelines and subsea cables have been deliberately damaged have highlighted the need for European countries to protect offshore infrastructure, and for a new type of survey and surveillance vessel dedicated to monitoring the underwater environment in areas of sovereign interest.

A notable example of this kind of vessel is Proteus, which acts as a mothership for ROVs and a suite of specialist capabilities, but others are entering service. In the Netherlands, like the UK, the government plans to invest further in offshore wind farms and to acquire new-generation vessels to protect these assets, but, in the near-term, a solution is to be provided by a converted offshore vessel, following the result of a recent tender won by a team comprising ship designer and builder Damen Shipyards Group and marine geodata specialist Fugro.

Underwater surveys

Earlier in 2025, the Dutch Ministry of Defence contracted the Damen-Fugro team to enhance maritime surveillance and security – above and below water – in the country’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ). The solution proposed by the Dutch companies is based on the use of a Damen Fast Crew Supplier (FCS) 5009, a vessel acquired from the offshore market, which is being upgraded with a suite of surveillance technology and assets such as above- and below-water drones that will enable the Royal Netherlands Navy to monitor vessel activity in the North Sea and survey critical underwater infrastructure such as cables and pipelines.

Singapore-based shipbuilder Strategic Marine has signed a memorandum of understanding with US-based Eureka Naval Craft to collaborate on the construction of the first Aircat Bengal MC Modular Attack Surface Craft. The vessel has been designed to operate in low-manning mode, or as an uncrewed surface vessel (USV), if required. Versions of the Aircraft Bengal MC could also be developed for use in the offshore oil and gas industry.

The Aircat Bengal MC uses a surface effect ship (SES) hullform, originally developed by Norwegian ship designer ESNA. An SES design has a catamaran hullform borne by a combination of an air cushion between the side hulls and the buoyancy of the hulls.

The partnership will use Eureka’s modular naval version of the SES design to deliver a new class of non-ITAR, dual-use vessels designed for both defence and civilian applications. Non-ITAR vessels are not subject to the America’s International Traffic in Arms Regulations, which control the export and import of defence-related equipment.

This means that the Aircat Bengal MC can respond to evolving requirements, such as the US Navy’s Modular Attack Surface Craft programme, and can fulfil the US Navy’s and allied nations’ requirements for optionally manned combatants. Its non-ITAR status and modular, dual-use design also make it ideal for rapid deployment and operational integration with US and partner forces, and the vessel’s high-speed, shallow[1]draught and modular payload system are optimised for littoral environments, key to Indo-Pacific naval defence and maritime security.

The past few years have seen regulators warm to nuclear power’s potential, but a major challenge remains: persuading investors to fund nuclear-powered commercial ships.

This was the main theme of the roundtable Is Nuclear the Missing Piece in Maritime Decarbonisation?, hosted by classification society IRClass during London International Shipping Week in September. Gihan Ismail, director of shipping fund/asset manager and vessel operator Marine Capital, told delegates: “From a technical perspective, I’m sure we will get there, and it will probably not take decades. But the commercial viability of [nuclear] technology will take a lot longer. IMO has still to develop a comprehensive regulatory framework for nuclear ships, and this will take time.”

Part of the problem, Ismail emphasised, is that “shipping and nuclear are two areas where institutional investors are very reluctant to invest directly”. She continued: “As maritime insiders, we know the risks in our industry and how to manage them – but a financial investor who has no familiarity with our sector just sees, for example, Ever Given stuck in the Suez Canal. As a result, [investors] tend to ascribe a higher risk premium to shipping.

“Institutional investors are reluctant to invest in shipping because they don’t like the construction risk, or the ‘first of a kind’ technology risk, or the long lead times, because there’s then uncertainty over capital deployment and the risk return model. They are also unwilling to invest in nuclear, partly because nuclear energy development is complex and has pretty much always been tied to national security. The project lead time is very lengthy – typically 16 years from regulatory approval to construction – and it’s typically beset by significant cost overruns and delays.”

Ismail expanded: “[Investors] have an investment period in mind, which is not infinite, so the funds will often have a fund life of, say, seven to 12 years – and you can’t really invest in a project where you’re not getting to see any income or return come through until after your fund life. These things need to be overcome if we’re going to see investment in commercial nuclear vessels. Investors want to see that this works in a commercial setting; they won’t want to take any kind of operational risk where there is no commercial track record.”

Gihan Ismail, Marine Capital: “Investors must be convinced that nuclear energy actually is ‘green’… I think there’s been a great deal of ambiguity”

Anouskha Bachraz, director, transportation advisory at multinational banking and financial services company Société Générale, commented: “Banks are conservative – there’s always a little bit of apprehension when you’re transitioning to new fuels. Even when you’re trying to finance LNG or methanol, banks will raise questions like: ‘How will it work? How will you find the methanol? Where are the green corridors?’ Banking is probably going to be one of the last sectors to support nuclear being used on commercial vessels.”

Given the high costs of producing a commercial nuclear ship, adopting a leasing model for onboard small modular reactors (SMRs) could spread the upfront costs of nuclear technology over time, enabling smaller operators to adopt these reactors without massive capital investment. As Bachraz pointed out: “Right now, SMRs are expected to have a lifespan of 40-60 years, which is much longer than that of your average ship” – and their compact, modular nature means they could suit various vessel types, making it possible for one reactor to fuel a small yacht, a bulk carrier and a landing vessel in its lifespan, for example.

One concept with the potential to lure investors – and one that has become increasingly popular in recent years – is that of green shipping corridors. With more than 60 such corridors established worldwide, and more on the way, they seem to be a burgeoning trend. However, Ismail warned, relatively few of these corridors are operational. “These take a long time to set up because of all the additional stakeholders involved,” she said. “You’ve got the shipowners, the operators, the ports, the charterers, the banks and other financing entities…and they all have to come together and agree to bear the cost together. The very few [green corridors] that are operational are operational because there’s been some kind of government support that has underwritten some aspect of that which has enabled those parties to take those risks, bear that extra capex and have some kind of certainty that that capex is worth it.

“You’ve got to have charterers who are willing to enter into duration. It’s not as simple as two countries or two ports getting together to enable that.”

‘Is Nuclear the Missing Piece in Maritime Decarbonisation?’ was hosted by IRClass during London International Shipping Week

Inevitably, the discussion led to the public perception of nuclear energy, and how this alt-fuel’s pariah status may be scaring off investors. It’s easy to understand why nuclear power advocates become frustrated; nobody seems to be as concerned with, say, ammonia, which can cause blindness, severe burns, lung damage and explosions in an accident, and devastate aquatic ecosystems in the event of a spill. Then again, the public hasn’t been subjected to decades of books, movies, documentaries and songs about the horrors of ammonia.

Ismail said: “Nuclear is still regarded with a good deal of suspicion. Investors must be convinced that nuclear energy actually is ‘green’, and I think there’s been a great deal of ambiguity. For example, the EU has only included nuclear as a ‘transitional’ energy in its sustainable finance directive taxonomy in 2022, and the UK government doesn’t actually include nuclear in its green finance framework – although the Climate Bonds Initiative [CBI] accepts that nuclear does align with green principles – so you need to convince investors that they are actually investing in a green energy source.”

One driver of change might be the adoption of SMRs by ‘Big Tech’, Bachraz noted. “Amazon, Microsoft and Google all need higher levels of energy intensity to be able to power the data centres they need for AI,” she said. This could break the ice with some previously reluctant investors; Bachraz added that some banks are already showing interest in the feasibility of financing these data centre SMRs on an ongoing basis. “Once you have a framework for financing SMRs on land, you can develop a framework on the shipping side,” she said.

Which brought the panel to the point: can the shipping industry obtain the financing it needs to pull this off without government assistance? In Ismail’s opinion, it’s inescapable that government has “a very big role to play – not just in nuclear, but in the whole energy transition, because a lot of commercial hurdles are not going to be solved solely by the private sector or the commercial sector”. She continued: “We all know that the cost is huge, so government can’t fund it alone – but there are just certain risks the private sector will not take, or will be very unwilling to take. It’s not just the banks that are conservative – it’s also institutional equity investors.”

The threat posed to global maritime trade by rogue states and terrorists has not changed much over the past 10 years, but the tools they use have. Mines, missiles, IED-ladened skiffs and RIBs are being replaced by drones – and, in little over three years, the drone has evolved from a flying camera used to take ship pics into a mass-produced, inexpensive killing machine, writes Patrik Wheater.

The first time a drone was used to target shipping was in July 2021 when the tanker Mercer Street, managed by an Israeli-linked company, was struck off Oman by an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), killing two crew. A year later, Ukrainian forces were modifying jet skis into remote-controlled surface drones, packing them with explosives and steering them towards Russian naval targets. By late 2023, most of the attacks on ships in the Red Sea, especially round the Gulf of Aden, used drones.

Houthi rebels used drones alongside missiles in a string of attacks, including in the 2023 hijacking and seizure of the car carrier Galaxy Leader. In the same year, the product tanker Swan Atlantic was hit in the southern Red Sea, with a drone approaching from astern and damaging a freshwater tank. In April 2024 containership MSC Orion was targeted by a HESA Shahed 136 drone in the western Indian Ocean, and in July 2025 the bulker Magic Sea was damaged in a combined attack using drones and remote-controlled boats before being boarded and abandoned.

For Fredrik Preiholt, senior analyst at the Norwegian War Risk Club (DNK), these incidents indicate a shift in method rather than motive. “It is a new tool, not a new threat,” he says. “The actors who use drones against shipping have always targeted shipping. If they didn’t have drones they would have used something else. The danger is that drones are cheap, easy to access and increasingly reliable.” There are typically two types of drones: airborne UAVs and unmanned surface vehicles (USVs), which are essentially remote-controlled boats adapted from commercial jet skis or speedboats. UAVs are usually used for surveillance and intelligence gathering purposes, to assess target suitability for attack, but they can be developed, according to Preiholt, as “one-way kamikaze drones”.

At their crudest, commercial quadcopter drones have been adapted to drop grenades or mortar rounds. At their most sophisticated, Iranian-made Shahed drones, which cost between US$20,000-40,000 each, are now widely used by Russia in Ukraine and supplied to Houthis in Yemen. But crude line-of-sight USVs, such as speedboats packed with explosives, are also being used to target ships. These waterborne IEDs are the main weapon against merchant vessels navigating the Red Sea and Indian Ocean. “Houthi USVs are limited to line-of-sight control,” says Preiholt. “But the Ukrainian designs, with Starlink communication links and better payloads, are closer to cruise missiles.”

Although drone attacks are relatively new, agitators and terrorists can block important shipping lanes, disrupt global trade, cause terror and sink a US$100 million asset for as little as US$10,0000. By contrast, a guided missile can cost north of US$500,000. The drone has resulted in sea traffic around the Red Sea dropping by half since the Houthis 2023, according to DNK analysis.

“There is a psychological effect, but missiles are actually scarier because they come with no warning,” says Preiholt. “With drones, you at least see them coming, which gives you a chance to react. But the sight of a UAV circling overhead has a clear effect on crew morale.”

For DNK, which insures some 3,500 ships in the Norwegian fleet, the role is to provide intelligence and analysis rather than prescribe defences. “Good affiliation checks can help establish if the vessel is likely to be on any potential target list, and access to reliable intelligence is more important than expensive defensive technology,” Preiholt explains, going on to advocate employing private security companies.

UK-based autonomy software developer Marine AI has launched a project in the hope of granting uncrewed vessels the ability to “communicate naturally” with other ships, in the manner of a human operator. The project has received the backing of the Defence and Security Accelerator (DASA), a branch of the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) created to fund the development of innovate tech solutions for the British Armed Forces.  

Marine AI will now trial a large language model (LLM), designed for ship-to-ship dialogue, using a ZeroUSV Oceanus12 USV in Plymouth and Portsmouth waters. The USV will communicate with the Royal Navy’s testbed Patrick Blackett and recently launched extra-large underwater uncrewed vehicle (XLUUV) Excalibur (see The Naval Architect June 2025). LLMs are types of AI model designed to both understand and generate human language, which could make mixed-traffic operations at sea more viable.  

Oliver Thompson, Marine AI technical director, comments: “Uncrewed platforms can only operate safely alongside conventional vessels if they can be understood. This project is about proving that an autonomous system can use natural language in a way that makes sense to mariners in real-world conditions.” 

P&O Ferries has announced that its passenger cargo and ro-ro ferry Pride of Hull has become the first vessel in its fleet to run entirely on biofuel B30, a blend of 30% biodiesel and 70% conventional diesel. As a result of the fuel swap, the 215m x 32m vessel, which services a route linking Hull, UK and Rotterdam, will cut lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions by approximately 20% compared with traditionally fuelled ferries – and without impacting on service reliability.

A spokesperson for P&O Ferries comments: “Following consultation with engine manufacturer Wärtsilä and leading fuel suppliers, biofuel B30 was selected as the most practical transitional fuel – reducing emissions without the need for costly vessel conversions.” The spokesperson adds that alt-fuels such as methanol and ammonia were rejected because they would have required expensive and significant engine modifications or replacements.

Completed by Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri and put into service in 2001, Pride of Hull features 12 decks and the capacity to carry up to 1,360 passengers and 400 freight vehicles.

Stewart Hayes, P&O Ferries fleet director, comments: “This transition shows that meaningful emissions reductions are possible today – even on one of the largest ferries in Europe.” Hayes adds that the move is part of a wider scheme by DP World (which acquired P&O Ferries in 2019) “to cut emissions by 42% by 2030”.

The Port of Antwerp-Bruges is forging ahead to develop a shore power installation at the Zweedse Kaai cruise terminal in Zeebrugge, Belgium, which will enable this hub to provide green electricity to calling cruise ships. Scheduled to be up and running in early 2027, and funded to the tune of just under €4 million by the European Commission and the Flemish government, the addition of a new onshore power supply (OPS) and high-voltage substation at this location will slash quayside emissions to zero, while reducing smelly, unsightly smoke for the benefit of local residents, passengers and crew alike.

Upon entering the terminal, cruise vessels will be able to connect to the charger via a moveable loading arm, switch off their engines and fuel their time in port on green shoreside power. Plans for a second electric installation are now being discussed. The shore power installation forms part of a broader renovation of the Zweedse Kaai that includes a new terminal building with boarding bridges, a battery system and redevelopment of part of the quay into green space.

A statement from the Port of Antwerp-Bruges outlined: “At the moment, the Zweedse Kaai accounts for about 5% of the CO₂ emissions from all ships at the quays in Antwerp and Zeebrugge, because the cruise ships at the quay generate electricity using diesel generators. Shore power does away with those emissions locally.” The port aims to be completely climate-neutral by 2050, and port representatives hopefully added: “The project can also serve as a reference for other terminal operators.” The funding partners have forecast a payback period of approximately 20 years.

Under the Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Regulation (AFIR), certain EU ports must offer OPS to specific ships by 1 January 2030, though some have raised concerns that the pace of installations is flagging somewhat. A study conducted this year by DNV on behalf of green transport advocate T&E indicated that just four of Europe’s 30 biggest ports have installed or contracted at least half of the shoreside electricity infrastructure needed by 2030. The report also claimed that cruise ships at berth produce at least more than six times the emissions of container vessels, with some extreme gas-guzzling outliers emitting even more.

Kership, the joint venture between French shipbuilder Piriou and Naval Group, has commenced construction of the first of two new offshore patrol vessels (OPVs) for the armed forces of Montenegro. Construction of the OPV follows a 2024 intergovernmental agreement between the French Ministry of Defence and the Montenegrin Ministry of Defence relating to defence cooperation.  

Following the agreement, which was confirmed at the 2024 Euronaval exhibition, Montenegro signed a contract for the acquisition of two OPV 60s from Kership, to be built at the Piriou facility in Concarneau. Acquisition of two modern OPVs will significantly enhance the country’s naval capability. The Montenegrin Navy – which was established in 2006, following the secession of Montenegro from the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro – has few vessels and only a little equipment inherited from the armed forces of the State Union, but the country has an extensive coastline. 

Based on an existing design that Piriou built for the Senegalese Navy, the OPV 60 was originally designed to undertake surveillance in coastal waters and within the exclusive economic zone. The third and final example of the design was delivered to Senegal in April 2025. 

The OPV 60 is a 60m patrol vessel that Kership has updated to enable the Montenegrin Navy to carry out missions including protecting infrastructure, border control, anti-piracy operations, search and rescue, pollution response and humanitarian aid. Addition of the vessels will reinforce Montenegro’s ability to patrol waters at the gateway to the Adriatic, better protect its national interests at the sea and enhance its ability to contribute to NATO’s collective efforts in the region. The new vessels will also enable the Montenegrin Navy to deploy special forces and above-water drones. 

With a length overall of 62.95m and a beam of 9.5m, the OPV 60 has a draught of 2.7m. Constructed with a steel hull and aluminium superstructure, it will provide accommodation for 24 crew and up to 16 special forces personnel. The OPV will have a diesel-electric propulsion system with MAN engines, two fixed-pitch propellers, two rudders and a bow thruster. The OPV 60s will have a range of 9,700nm, a maximum speed of 21knots and a displacement of 550tonnes, and each will make use of an active stabilisation system. 

Kership said the OPV 60s will also be equipped with a 7.5tonne-capacity crane, and will be capable of embarking two 20’ containers. Special forces personnel will be deployed using a pair of 6.8m rigid hull inflatable boats (RHIBs), which will be launched and recovered via a stern-mounted ramp. The newbuilds will be armed with a remotely operated 40mm gun and two remotely operated 12.7mm machine guns. They will also embark unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and have diver/special forces facilities.  

The design has also been modified to include a hull-mounted sonar and a nuclear, biological and chemical ‘cell’ to protect the crew in the event of an attack. Naval Group will supply a Polaris combat management system for the new OPVs. 

Kership says the first vessel, Petar 1, will be delivered to the Montenegrin Navy in the first half of 2027, with the second, Petar II, to be delivered six months after the first. 

On 22 August, the Canadian-flagged vessel M/V Tamarack, the first newly built cement carrier in two decades to enter service on the Great Lakes, called at the Port of Montreal, thus completing her maiden transatlantic voyage and proceeding to load her maiden cement cargo, writes Bruno Cianci. 

Owned by Eureka Shipping, this 12,500dwt vessel had been delivered in July by Holland Shipyard in Hardinxveld-Giessendam in the Netherlands, during a ceremony attended by more than 150 invitees. Eureka Shipping – a joint venture between Canadian Steamship Lines (CSL) Group and Cyprus-based SMT Shipping – was established in 2008, with CSL Group joining as a shareholder a decade later. Eureka, headquartered in Limassol, Cyprus, owns and operates a fleet of cement carriers and barges ranging from 3,726dwt (M/V Envik) to 22,530dwt (M/V Winterset), with an average close to 7,000dwt per vessel. 

Although designed on a compact platform, this 123m vessel was commissioned to replace two older ships with a more streamlined, high-performance design that retains the same cargo capacity while significantly reducing the enviromental footprint thanks to energy-saving handling systems. 

The commissioning of Tamarack is likely to transform activities in the Great Lakes region. The vessel features four dedicated cement cargo holds with a total capacity of 10,856m³, all supported by high-efficiency loading and discharging systems. Tamarack is fitted with diesel-electric propulsion, featuring four generator sets, two 360° rudder propellers (which also perform as thrusters while docking) and a powerful bow thruster for optimal manoeuvrability. The vessel is also equipped to run on HVO, thereby reducing greenhouse emissions.

Furthermore, Tamarack is prepared for shore power connectivity, enabling zero-emission operations in ports. The environmental goal is further enhanced by the wide use of LED lighting, which consumes less electricity than traditional lighting systems, as well as heat recovery on the generator sets for the HVAC, plus other energy-saving technical measures.

When asked what Tamarack represents, Marco Hoogendoorn, director of all Holland Shipyards Group locations and product companies, replies: “This vessel demonstrates what collaboration can achieve. Together with Eureka and SMT, we’ve delivered a robust and efficient ship, tailored to her task. Tamarack is a sophisticated diesel-electric design with two L-drives: it has no main batteries and runs solely on generators. The diesel-electric propulsion system, powered by four Caterpillar generators always allows for the most optimal power setting, either in transit, when manoeuvring, berthed or during loading/unloading operations.”

Tamarack, which is handled by a crew of 15, has a range of 3,600nm and can spend up to 15 days at sea, and has a service speed of 10 knots. 

For the full in-depth article, including all technical particulars and a general arrangement, don’t miss the September 2025 issue of The Naval Architect

Installing wind-assist propulsion (WAP) technology could help shipowners to reduce energy consumption and fuel costs – but getting the best out of WAP systems (WAPS) necessitates integrating them with the other onboard propulsive components, rather than installing and utilising these WAPS in relative isolation.  

As Henrik Alpo Sjöblom, VP for business concepts at Kongsberg Maritime, puts it: “Shipowners can choose their preferred type of wind-assist technology: there are several available and they all have their own attributes. However, to date, these technologies, whether incorporated in a newbuild or retrofitted, are essentially an add-on technology.” He adds: “We believe they can be used in a much more effective way.” 

To pursue that aim, June saw Kongsberg Maritime officially launch its K-Sail service, an offering intended to help shipowners select and integrate WAP technology more effectively. Sjöblom, who is the driving force behind K-Sail, tells The Naval Architect: “It’s taking the same approach as you would with a yacht; determining how you manage all systems on board when you factor in the additional thrust from the sails. You really need to analyse how the sails work to integrate them with the onboard systems, and to consider each specific vessel and specific route.  

“Like with a sailboat, you wouldn’t use the same sail all the time; you’d have a main sail for certain legs, but also a jib for upwind sailing and a spinnaker for downwind sailing – so why not take the same approach for wind-assisted vessels?” 

K-Sail can be broken down into five key areas, including: “understanding the vessel’s operational parameters and selecting the appropriate sail technology”, the company says;  ensuring the steering system can accommodate the additional thrust generated by the sails; ensuring the propeller operates efficiently with the additional wind propulsion; and balancing the power generated by the sails with the ship’s energy requirements. 

The fifth element concerns the use of AI and real-time data to optimise the ship’s route and speed, for maximum operational efficiency. The K-Sail system continuously collects and analyses data from multiple sources (including wind conditions, vessel speed, heading and sea state, as well as onboard propulsion, steering and power management systems), using sensors, to monitor sail-generated thrust and engine power output in real-time. This then enables dynamic adjustments to maintain optimal performance. 

So, for example, the system could reduce engine load (and thus fuel consumption) when winds are favourable. Alternatively, when wind strength drops, or there is a heightened requirement for speed, K-Sail can seamlessly shift more power to the engines, providing actionable recommendations or automatically adjusting sail angles, engine RPM and propeller pitch to reach the most energy-efficient operational state. Based on the results of a K-Sail pilot project aboard a tanker owned by Sweden’s Terntank, K-Sail could reduce engine power by up to 9-15% in strong winds, cutting fuel use and emissions.

Expanding upon the importance of the pilot projects and forthcoming sea trials, Sjöblom says: “The problem with WAP, as with any renewable energy, is that it’s based on probabilities. Once you start operating, you get the real numbers regarding how this technology actually performs in winds.” As befits a system designed to be compatible with various WAPS (including Flettner rotors, suction sails, soft sails and rigid sails) and vessels ranging from small fishing boats to ocean-going bulk carriers, the K-Sail’s use of AI should help the system to learn how each WAPS-equipped vessel performs in different wind directions, considering factors such as the aerodynamics around the vessel – “which can be more challenging for, let’s say, a cargo vessel with block structures on its deck,” Sjöblom says. 

Boatbuilder/designer Arksen and electric/autonomous propulsion specialist RAD Propulsion have partnered up to jointly develop a “revolutionary class of clean, intelligent and highly proficient marine craft”, the companies state.

The partnership has set itself three key development goals. The first is to realise a rugged inflatable boat featuring RAD Propulsion’s Power console – described as a “fully integrated, cable-free helm system tailored for eco-tourism and cruise operators and defence applications”.

The second goal is to develop a next-gen rigid-hulled inflatable boat (RHIB), optimised for RAD Propulsion’s latest electric drive systems. Thirdly, the partners aim to produce customised and mission-specific autonomous patrol boats and tactical craft, as well as pontoons for the US market.

The intention is to maintain “at least three active development projects at all times, enabling rapid response to market opportunities while keeping capital outlay low”, and to produce boats that can handle tasks ranging “from ocean tourism to tactical operations”, says Arksen founder Jasper Smith.

Dan Hook, CEO of RAD Propulsion, adds: “The partnership will push the boundaries on what’s possible for electric-powered vessels in remote and challenging environments, reducing the reliance on fossil fuels. Arksen’s design and market reach, combined with our propulsion and autonomy stack, makes for a powerful offering across the marine landscape.

“Both companies are also committed to ensuring that this collaboration has a lasting positive impact on the environment, aligning with the growing demand for green energy.”

In August, RAD Propulsion announced that it had partnered with Pangolin Photo Safaris, operator of the luxury trimaran ‘houseboat’ Pangolin Voyager. With the capacity to carry 10 guests on wildlife photography tours along Botswana’s Chobe River, the boat incorporates four RAD40 electric drives, rated 40kW apiece, along with two 61kWh batteries and a spread of solar panels. The drives are split two at the front, between the hulls, and two at the back, and the complete electric power package enables a speed of about 2.5knots.

Drydocks World to undertake LNG carrier conversions

Drydocks World has been awarded a contract by Amigo LNG, a joint venture between Texas-based Epcilon LNG and Singapore-based LNG Alliance, to convert two LNG carriers into floating storage units (FSUs). Additionally, the company will build two new floating LNG barges at its Dubai shipyard.

Once operational in the second half of 2028, the four-vessel facility will provide more than 4.2 million tonnes of liquefaction capacity annually for a project off the coast of Mexico. Drydocks World has completed more than 10 large-scale LNG and FSRU conversion projects to date.

 

Boiler retrofits lined up for Elcome

Dubai-headquartered Elcome International has signed an agreement with an as yet unnamed Middle East-based shipowner to retrofit boiler control systems to 10 crude oil tankers and product carriers. Each installation includes secure remote connectivity, enabling Elcome’s service team to provide real-time support, software updates and diagnostics during voyages.

Two vessels have already been retrofitted; one in Jebel Ali and one while the vessel was at sea. Each installation will take between five and seven days to complete, Elcome states.

 

Seatrium secures FLNG upgrade work

Singapore’s Seatrium shipyard has secured a contract from Golar Hilli Corporation to upgrade the FLNG Hilli Episeyo. Scheduled to enter the yard in Q3 2026, the project involves repair and life extension-related items, winterisation of the vessel and the installation of a new soft-yoke mooring system.

When completed, Hilli Episeyo will be redeployed in the Gulf of San Matias in the Rio Negro province offshore Argentina, liquifying gas from the Vaca Muerta Shale formation onshore in Neuquen province for 20 years. Hilli Episeyo, with a capacity capacity of 2.45 million tonnes a year, is set to recommence operations in 2027.

 

Tallin yard to undertake ferry retrofit

BLRT Repair Yards Tallinn has been selected to carry out a major retrofit onboard Aurora Botnia, Wasaline’s hybrid ferry, with work set to begin in autumn 2025. The project involves the installation of a 10.4 MWh lithium iron phosphate battery system, supplied by AYK Energy, an upgrade expected to reduce the vessel’s annual fossil energy use by approximately 10,000MWh and cut emissions by 23%.

Also heavily involved in the project is Wärtsilä, which will deliver the energy management system and upgrade the power drives and control systems.

Japan Engine Corporation (J-ENG) reports that it has finalised development of its 2-stroke, dual-fuel ammonia engine, the 7UEC50LSJA-HPSCR, which completed performance verification tests in August 2025.

The engine – under development since 2023, as part of a NEDO-funded project with partners NYK Line, Nihon Shipyard, Japan Marine United Corporation (JMU) and ClassNK – will be installed aboard an ammonia-fuelled medium gas carrier at JMU Ariake Shipyard in October 2025. This newbuild is expected to commence operations in 2026.

The new engine is a 50cm-bore, 7-cylinder model, with a high-pressure SCR system for exhaust aftertreatment. The August verification tests saw the engine put through its paces in both ammonia and HFO operation modes, with ClassNK handling certification related to environmental performance and safety.

J-ENG comments: “[We] previously conducted approximately 1,000 hours of test runs on a single-cylinder ammonia-fuel test engine at the Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Research & Development Center at Nagasaki between May 2023 and September 2024.” Insights gained from those test runs informed the manufacture of the first full-scale commercial version of the 7UEC50LSJA-HPSCR, which began ammonia fuel trials in April 2025. In the five months since, the engine has undergone 700 hours of tests, focusing on factors such as leak prevention and monitoring, for the safety of the crew. J-ENG adds that, at 100% engine load and 95% ammonia fuel content, the engine was observed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by more than 90%.

Additionally, J-ENG says it is developing a 60cm-bore ammonia-fuelled engine, and plans to open a new engine-building factory in 2028.

The third ship in Royal Caribbean’s behemothic Icon class, Legend of the Seas, has undergone a float-out ceremony at the Meyer Turku shipyard in Finland, in advance of her Q2 2026 delivery.

The Icon class features a length of 365m, a breadth of nearly 50m and a gross tonnage exceeding 248,600, granting it the title of the world’s largest cruise ship series. Legend Of The Seas will follow in the wake of Icon Of The Seas, delivered to Royal Caribbean in November 2023, and Star Of The Seas, which was handed over in July this year and entered service in August. A fourth ship, as yet unnamed, is also under construction at Meyer Turku, with delivery scheduled for 2027, and options exist for a further two Icon-class newbuilds.

Legend Of The Seas was floated out on 29 August, accompanied by speeches by shipyard and Royal Caribbean representatives, a gun salute and a competition to open the water valves of the construction basin. Over the weekend following the ceremony, the ship was moved to the yard’s outfitting dock, where finishing work will continue for just under a year.

The Icon-class ships have dual-fuel capability, each being equipped with six multi-fuel Wärtsilä engines that can run on LNG as the primary fuel, but also on MDO as a back-up. In addition to LNG, the ships incorporate fuel cell technology, enabling them to convert chemical energy from the LNG into electricity with minimal emissions. Other ‘green’ design features include shore power connections and waste heat recovery systems.

Meyer Turku says: “In keeping with the hallmarks of the Icon class, a giant glass and steel dome, the AquaDome, has been lifted on the bow of the ship.” Like her sisters, Legend Of The Seas also features the ‘Pearl’: a large, sphere-shaped structure in the Royal Promenade, which serves as both a key part of the ship’s structure, supporting three decks, and an art installation, with more than 3,000 moving tiles that change colours and patterns to reflect the ocean’s movement. Meyer Turku adds: “The ship also offers passengers eight distinct neighbourhoods, numerous pools and a variety of restaurants and bars.”

Tokyo maritime companies Tokyo Kisen and Marindows have launched what they claim to be Japan’s first pure-battery-powered harbour tugboat development project. Tokyo Kisen offers maritime safety, tugboat, passenger ship and logistics services in Tokyo Bay and beyond, while Marindows was founded in 2021 by e5 Lab to push maritime environmental sustainability through electrification and autonomous operations.  

The plans for the vessel, which is scheduled to service the ports of Yokohama and Kawasaki, were drawn up in accordance with the Carbon Neutral Port (CNP) policy, an initiative created by Japan’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions in domestic port operations by 2050. 

The partners aim to commence construction of the tug in 2028 and to put it into commercial service by 2030. The vessel will feature two 1,500kW propulsion units and an onboard battery capacity of 6.66MWh, which should enable a maximum bollard pull (bp) of 53tonnes and a speed of approximately 14knots. The vessel has also been designed to work with a pair of 1,000kW-class shore-to-ship fast chargers, for minimum disruption to operations. 

This set-up will improve on the hybrid-electric tugboat Taiga, which Tokyo Kisen put into service in January 2023, and which featured a 2,486kWh-capacity battery. “Building on 2.5 years of operating experience with electric-powered tugs, this project advances to the next stage—enabling truly zero-CO2 operations—by developing and constructing a pure battery-powered EV tugboat,” Tokyo Kisen comments.

The Royal Norwegian Navy has selected the Type 26 frigate offered by the UK for its next-generation frigate.

The new frigates will replace the Royal Norwegian Navy’s Fridtjof Nansen-class frigates, of which five were built but only four remain following the loss of one, Helge Ingstad, in 2018, after the vessel ran aground. Delivery of the British-built Type 26 frigates to Norway will start in 2030.

Norwegian defence minister Tore Sandvik said the Type 26 frigates will be primarily designed to undertake anti-submarine warfare and to detect, track down and engage submarines. He said the Norwegian and British vessels “will be as identical as possible, and have the same technical specification”, and that having nearly identical vessels “will enable us to operate even more efficiently together, reduce costs and make joint maintenance easier”. The minister noted that it also opens up the possibility for joint training of personnel, “and perhaps even using Norwegian and British crew interchangeably”.

The Norwegian frigates will be equipped with anti-submarine-capable helicopters, although a decision on the helicopter type has not yet been made. Sandvik said Norway also plans to consider rapid technological developments “and explore the possibilities for utilising unmanned platforms”. He said this is something that will also be examined with Norway’s British partners.

Selection of the Type 26 – which is being built for the UK Royal Navy and the Royal Australian and Canadian navies – is a major coup for the UK defence industry, which faced competition from the US and other European shipbuilders. The UK Government said, as a result of the deal, which will see BAE Systems build five Type 26 frigates for the Royal Norwegian Navy, billions of pounds will be pumped into the UK economy and 4,000 jobs will be secured, including 2,000 in Scotland. The deal is also Norway’s largest defence procurement contract and will see a combined fleet of 13 anti-submarine frigates based on the Type 26 design – eight British and five Norwegian – operate jointly in northern Europe. The programme is also expected to support 432 businesses, including 222 small and medium enterprises, across the UK, including 103 in Scotland, 47 in the northwest of England and 35 in the West Midlands.

Norwegian prime minister Jonas Støre said: “Norway and the UK are close allies, with common interests and strong bilateral ties. I am confident that the strategic partnership with the UK for purchasing, developing and operating frigates is the right decision. This partnership enables Norway to reach the strategic objectives our Parliament set out in the current Long-Term Plan on Defence.” Selecting the UK as partner for frigates was also recommended by Norway’s chief of defence.

Speaking on behalf of the Team UK industry partners, BAE Systems CEO Charles Woodburn said: “The Norwegian Government’s decision reflects its confidence in British industry’s ability to deliver a superior anti-submarine warfare platform, together with systems and equipment, that will support its future maritime security and reinforce its position within NATO.

“The Type 26 features sophisticated weapons, advanced sensors and cutting-edge communications, with a flexible design that enables future upgrades to counter emerging threats.”

Concordia Damen has delivered another vessel in its CDS Tanker 110 class to Dutch inland shipping operator VOF Generation. The newcomer, christened mts Generation, will be used to transport mineral oils on the Rhine River.

The CDS Tanker 110 is a stock Damen design, measuring 110m x 11.45m and featuring a depth of 4.9m and draughts of 1.2m (minimum) and 3.3m (fully loaded). The vessel class has a cargo capacity of 2,868tonnes – which, Concordia Damen claims, is some 200tonnes more than that offered by comparable ship types on the market. Eight onboard tanks permit a combined cargo volume of 3,040m3, and tankage is provided for 1,320m3 of ballast water and 16m3 of fresh water.

mts Generation has been fitted with a hybrid propulsion system, which includes a battery pack, supplied by EST-Floattech, and electrically driven Equadrives, manufactured by Verhaar Omega. Concordia Damen says: “This configuration ensures quieter, cleaner and more efficient operation, with peak loads being smartly managed by the battery capacity.” The vessel has a speed of 18km/hour, or just under 10knots.

Part of the DP World group, Drydocks World (DDW) in Dubai is one of the Middle East region’s biggest ship repair and conversion yards, and is also expanding rapidly in terms of its newbuilding, offshore construction and EPC activities.

The yard collects various safety-related data, which plays a vital role in evaluating the effectiveness of occupational health and safety (OH&S) programmes. Modelled in accordance with ISO 45001:2018, the DDW OH&S Management System incorporates a Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) concept and consists of OH&S procedures and forms to aid the safe execution of all activities at DDW.

Every project begins with a comprehensive risk assessment. The HSE&S framework ensures risks are identified, assessed and mitigated through monthly safety audits, behavioural observations and detailed incident reviews. Routine tasks are guided by the pre-defined OH&S procedures. The company’s OH&S training matrix ensures that everyone receives targeted training based on their role, and that every worker, from pipe fitters to supervisors, receives targeted safety training delivered by experienced internal instructors.

This commitment also extends to environmental safety. Routine assessments are carried out for air quality, noise levels, wastewater discharge and sediment sampling. Automated hydro-blasting technologies and shore power systems further help reduce emissions and risk, especially in confined or enclosed areas.

Employees at DDW receive hands-on training designed to prepare them for high-risk roles. The company recently integrated cutting-edge augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) modules into its safety training programme, and these simulations allow workers to safely rehearse scenarios such as confined-space entry or equipment operation, significantly reducing their exposure to risk during real-life tasks. DDW has also conducted VR training sessions covering slip, trip and fall training and manual handling, among others.

Accelerating the pace of digitalisation within the yard has also had some positive benefits in a safety context, and this has included investing in various safety-related digital transformation initiatives. This includes the use of a Cargoes Rostering System (CRS) for workforce allocation, reducing fatigue and improving shift compliance, and robotic tools for blasting and pipe alignment, to minimise manual exposure to hazardous environments. With an asset management and mobile equipment tracking system now in place, through the implementation of CARGOES IoT+, DDW can take advantage of having an Internet of Things (IoT) platform, including improved safety.

In 2024, DDW rolled out its IFS Production & Operations ERP solution, automating workflows across repair, conversion, newbuild and EPC projects. Beyond efficiency gains, the system enhances safety by enabling real-time compliance monitoring, incident tracking, training management and analytics. Supervisors are also now equipped with personal tablets that streamline inspections, audits and safety checklists, reducing the potential for human error and ensuring protocols are followed consistently. The company further deploys predictive analytics to monitor equipment conditions and worker exposure, enabling timely interventions in maintenance and health.

Looking ahead, DDW is increasing investments in frontline engagement platforms, expanded training centres and infrastructure upgrades such as modernised lifting equipment reinforcing controls around high-risk tasks. Mass safety campaigns, joint regulator workshops and internal safety initiatives continue to drive awareness and dialogue across the organisation.

CAD/CAM solutions and digital twin technology, by their very nature, overlap – and this could yield excellent benefits for naval architects, shipbuilders and the owners and operators of new and existing vessels. CAD enables users to create detailed digital designs, and CAM allows them to automate production, making it easier to build complex ships (and offshore platforms) accurately. Digital twins serve as virtual representations of real-world objects, enabling users to monitor, test and tweak them in real time.

As Craig Tulk, product business analyst at CAD/CAM solutions developer SSI, puts it: “A CAD model, whether it contains 2D or 3D info, is a form of a digital twin.” This perspective highlights the foundational connection between CAD models and digital twins but also raises questions about how much detail—or “DNA”—a CAD model needs to qualify as a digital twin. “The question is, what parts of the DNA does it actually need to carry to suit its purpose?” Tulk tells The Naval Architect. “A production-based CAD model design may carry a whole lot of DNA but might not break it down into all of the fine details you might require for a maintenance-based digital twin.

“For example, it would give you details about what engine model/version fits into a particular space and what connects up to it, but it wouldn’t provide specific details about fuel injectors or turbo charger breakdown details in a way that would be specifically useful to anyone who wants to service those engine parts later in the vessel’s life. Yet, it can provide a faster path for them to get to that information through a linked digital thread from that engine model/version that was installed.

“It really depends on the purpose of what you’re using the digital twin for. At the detail design and production stage, it may not be considered worth the money to spend adding details about where every onboard sensor will be located. Similarly, the ship operator may want these sensor details for operational monitoring, but doesn’t need to know how the ships’ block units were assembled.”

Tulk highlights that “we’re seeing a metamorphosis in our industry”, in which clients are extending the traditional use of CAD/CAM as a ship design tool to also cover post-delivery monitoring and maintenance. “CAD/CAM is usually used for production design, which is where the costs are incurred – the cost of building a vessel is about 90% greater than the cost of designing it,” he says. “In turn, the cost of operating the vessel can well exceed the costs of designing and building it, so customers now want to manage and maintain that digital thread from the earliest design stages right through to the operation of the vessel.”

Additionally, using CAD/CAM data to create a digital twin of the vessel is proving beneficial for personnel training, especially in the naval and patrol vessel segments. “The digital twin shows all the compartments of the vessel and what they are purposed for: for example, where fire stations and life rafts are located on the ship,” Tulk says, “so trainers can use that 3D model as a virtual representation for training purposes alone.”

One recent trend is reusing early conceptual and preliminary design data, such as 3D hullforms, to streamline production of similar vessels. “Traditionally, each ship’s design started from scratch – conceptual, preliminary, contractual, then functional and production stages,” Tulk explains. “Now, designers can reuse digital assets from early stages, saving time and costs.” Another trend is hosting CAD/CAM models and digital twins on the cloud, which, Tulk notes, was “unthinkable a decade ago” due to technological limits. Cloud solutions enable real-time collaboration and data access, which in turn permit effective lifecycle management of the asset via the digital twin.

Tulk also highlights finite element analysis (FEA) and component traceability as emerging CAD/CAM and digital twin tech trends. FEA, now fully digital, allows designers to carry strength calculations from early conceptual and preliminary design phases—where hull shape and strength are defined—through to the final build, to help ensure the ship meets its initial performance and safety goals. Additionally, the digital thread can be used to help owners/operators to trace designed parts to their physical counterparts. So, should a plate fail to meet specifications, users can more easily trace it back to its source batch, identifying other potentially faulty components. “People can ask: ‘This piece of steel came from this bad batch of plates—but what else that’s on board came from it?”, says Tulk. “It’s a faster, easier way to verify that what was factored into the design is fit for purpose and is safe.”

 

For the full article, see the August 2025 issue of The Naval Architect

Metalock Brasil diversifies to perform cell guide repairs

Metalock Brasil has been expanding its operations through the deployment of riding teams to carry out complex repairs on the cell guides of container ships. These operations were performed while the vessels were in transit, at the request of a leading European shipowner.

Cell guides are vertical steel structures that extend from the ship’s holds to the deck, playing a critical role in keeping containers properly aligned and secure during transport. Damage or wear to these structures can significantly limit a vessel’s cargo capacity, posing both operational and logistical risks.

Given that container ships make very brief stops at ports, making traditional alongside maintenance difficult, Metalock Brasil has been executing these repairs while the vessels are at sea. The dedicated riding teams comprise welding and platework specialists who operate simultaneously in multiple holds, using scaffolding systems that often exceed the height of seven-story buildings.

In the first half of 2025 alone, Metalock says its teams carried out onboard cell guide repairs while vessels were trading between Santos and Rio Grande, Rio de Janeiro and Santos, and Santos and Santo Antônio in Chile.

Seatrium secures FSRU conversion contract

Singapore-based Seatrium Limited has been awarded a floating storage regasification unit (FSRU) conversion contract by Karpowership’s Kinetics business division. Scheduled to commence in Q3 2025, the project involves the conversion of an LNG carrier into an FSRU named LNGT Turkiye. The scope of work includes the installation of a regasification module and a spread-mooring system, and integration of key supporting systems such as cargo-handling, offloading, utility, electrical and automation systems.

Currently, two more FSRU conversion projects for Kinetics are in progress at the Seatrium yard, with deliveries scheduled later this year and in Q1 2026.

Hafnia drydocks 13 vessels in six-month period

Tanker operator Hafnia has completed the drydocking of 13 of its vessels over the first half of 2025, undertaking various repairs, special surveys and upgrade works. The vessels concerned were Hafnia Amber, Hafnia Falcon, Hafnia Almandine, Hafnia Valentino, Hafnia Viridian, Hafnia Nordica, Hafnia Andesine, Hafnia Bering, Hafnia Aventurine, Hafnia Ametrine, Hafnia Aquamarine, Hafnia Amethyst, and Hafnia Aronaldo. The vessels underwent Special Renewal Surveys in collaboration with classification societies, including ABS, DNV and Lloyd’s Register. For tankers approaching their 15th year of service, CAP Hull and Machinery Surveys were also conducted.

All of the chemical tankers received a full or partial recoating of their cargo oil tanks with Advanced Polymer Coatings’ MarineLine systems, and were upgraded with new stainless steel common, nitrogen and tank washing lines, with a dehumidifier for tank ventilation and the installation of an extra fixed tank washing machine. The vessels also benefitted from the application of high-performance silicone-based hull coatings to help ensure compliance with IMO’s EEXI and CII measures, while other work included propeller enhancements, with graphene coatings, and the installation of energy saving Propeller Boss Cap Fin devices. Additionally, Alfa Laval BWTS units were installed and steam heating coil systems repairs carried out.

A further seven vessels are scheduled to undergo similar drydockings over the next few months. These include Hafnia Axinite, Hafnia Ammolite, Hafnia Azurite, Hafnia Violette, Hafnia Australia,  Hafnia Africa and Hafnia Magellan.

 

 

Maritime cybersecurity has a definition problem: few of us try to define what maritime cybersecurity actually means, writes Dinos Kerigan-Kyrou AmRINA,  co-founder of the RINA Cybersecurity Task Force. The term has become synonymous with computers and IT paraphernalia but, while IT is clearly a critical component of cybersecurity, what is not fully realised – including by many in the ‘cybersecurity industry’ – is that cybersecurity also includes the disciplines of law, criminology, business, politics and international relations, organisational behaviour, psychology and human interactions (aka human factors).  

Cybersecurity can be defined as the security of cyberspace, the online environment in which everyone now lives and works. In the maritime environment, cybersecurity is part of everything we do – in port, on rivers and at sea, within the shipyards and within our supply chains. Cybersecurity also concerns our critical maritime infrastructure, including our underwater critical infrastructure, such as subsea communications and energy cables, offshore energy platforms and underwater sensors.

Nefarious actors – be they hostile states, terrorists, activist extremists or criminals – target the maritime environment in a combination of ways. Firstly, cyberspace is the facilitator for all nefarious maritime activity. Human trafficking, narcotics, wildlife and antiques smuggling facilitates the financing of organised crime and terrorist activity. Cyberspace also provides ‘gateways’ for nefarious actors to target maritime activity. One gateway is the targeting of connected devices – sometimes called the Internet of Things (IoT).

Vessels are increasingly equipped with IoT-enabled control systems connected to online networks. They include: power management systems;  loading, stability and container monitoring systems; alarms and the bridge control consoles; ECDIS, AIS and navigation decision support (NAVDEC); voyage data recorders; computerised automatic steering; and the global maritime distress and safety system (GMDSS). Ports also increasingly comprise multiple examples of IoT, including: port security; access control and ID cards; CCTV; automated cargo-handling equipment; terminal operating centres; cranes; and integrated supply chain logistical systems. Moreover, port IoT devices are directly interacting with vessels’ IoT, including communications, the GPS, lock operations, maintenance and management, pollution and environmental control systems.  

Extensive maritime IoT testing has found significant vulnerabilities, creating a situation where connected devices can be directly targeted. This includes device ‘spoofing’, where vessels’ positions can be faked. For example: the photo below, taken by the author at a European university maritime cybersecurity research lab, shows a buoy fitted with an inexpensive Raspberry Pi computer. This can easily create a fictitious ‘spoof’ vessel wherever the buoy is located. Moreover, the cybersecurity risks created by personal devices – laptops, tablet computers, smartwatches, virtual assistants, and smartphones, all of which have cameras and microphones – can be as great as those of the devices built into vessels.  

So, what is being done? IMO has produced Guidelines on Maritime Cyber Risk Management (updated in 2025), which provides a framework for the maritime industry to progress cybersecurity. This IMO document is greatly expanded upon by the UK and the EU – both of whom are making cybersecurity requirements legally enforceable.  

Legislation in the EU and, soon, the UK is transforming the cybersecurity responsibilities of directors and boards. The EU’s ‘NIS 2’ Directive, EU Cyber Resilience At, and soon the UK’s Cyber Security and Resilience Bill place cybersecurity responsibilities squarely on directors, including for the security of their supply chains (the EU legislation applies to any company with even just one EU / European Economic Area customer, regardless of its global location). In other words, failure of maritime board directors to address their cybersecurity and that of their supply chains in the EU (and soon the UK) is now a criminal offence.  

The Royal Institution of Naval Architects (RINA) is playing an increasingly critical role in developing maritime cybersecurity, having established a Maritime Cybersecurity Task Force in the past year. The group aims to bring together RINA members with world-leading expertise, to share information and make cyberspace safer for everyone in the maritime environment. Crucially important is that RINA supports and endorses the Maritime Cyber Baseline certification established by IASME (a UK cybersecurity certification company that is also the delivery partner for the UK National Cyber Security Centre’s ‘Cyber Essentials’ certification).  

 

For the full, in-depth article, don’t miss the August 2025 issue of The Naval Architect

Offshore wind turbines and battery-powered support vessels seem a perfect match, promising reduced fossil fuel use and a holistic solution for the wind power industry’s success. However, can batteries – whether in a hybrid diesel-electric set-up or installed as a standalone solution – provide enough power for an 80m+ service operation vessel (SOV) to compete with similarly sized, diesel-powered units?

That’s the challenge accepted by offshore services provider Bibby Marine, inspiring the development of its 89.6m electric commissioning SOV (eCSOV) concept. Incorporating dual-fuel engines and possibly the largest battery pack in this sector, the vessel is poised to overturn quite a few assumptions about what batteries can and cannot do in the field. With the ability to operate emissions-free for more than 24 hours in DP mode, and to recharge directly at windfarms in less than five hours, the eCSOV’s goal is to slash CO2 emissions while still effectively competing with traditional, conventionally fuelled SOVs.

Having completed the concept design in partnership with UK-based naval architects Longitude Engineering, Bibby Marine progressed to basic design and model testing with Spanish ship designer Seaplace. The keel for the eCSOV was laid by Spanish shipbuilder Astilleros Armon in July 2025, with delivery scheduled for mid-2027.

Gavin Forward, head of newbuild projects at BibbyMarine, tells The Naval Architect: “The eCSOV has been designed with maximum operational flexibility, capable of running on diesel, green methanol or battery power — and seamlessly switching between them without any loss of efficiency or operability. While electrification may not suit all maritime applications, it aligns exceptionally well with the operational profile of CSOVs, particularly in terms of predictable, daily power demand in-field.”

The vessel’s flexibility in fuel choice is crucial for now, given current gaps in shore-based charging infrastructure. “Once shore and offshore charging become standard, we could put the whole operational envelope under battery power,” says Forward. “Globally, most wind farms are located within 40nm of port and we have a range of over 130nm on battery power. We would never have to use any fuel – but, in reality, we just don’t have that shore power availability in the UK right now. So, the idea is to sail to the windfarm on traditional fuel or green methanol; then operate in-field on electric power, before sailing back to port on fuel; and then conducting all port operations on batteries with zero emissions.”

Key to the success of electrification of offshore wind operations is the ability to charge the vessel directly in-field. Several suppliers are working on solutions, with some prototypes and smaller CTV charging systems having been deployed by the likes of Stillstrom, MJR Power & Automation, Oasis and Seaonics, to name but a few.

Typically, the offshore charging system would be mounted on a turbine, a monopile, a substation or an on-site buoy. Forward reveals: “We’ve been trialling all solutions and approaches, so that we’re prepared for whatever becomes the industry standard. We think installing the charging system on the monopile is going to be the best technical option, but it depends on how developers want to set up their fields.” The eCSOV will remain in DP mode for charging, maintaining positioning on battery power and obtaining a full state of charge in less than five hours, with a once-per-day charging cycle.

The eCSOV is designed to primarily operate on battery power, with the engines only being used to charge the battery pack where offshore charging is not available, or during longer transits. The dual-fuel engines run at a fixed, optimised load and speed, and recharge the batteries when required, rather than directly powering the vessel or using the batteries to supplement engine power, which is a more typical approach in hybrid set-ups. Bibby Marine has calculated that the eCSOV’s 24.4MWh lithium iron phosphate battery pack can run for more than 24hours between charges in calm conditions; for more than 20 hours in a medium sea state; and for more than 15 hours in rough conditions.

 

For the full, in-depth story and technical particulars, check out the August 2025 issue of The Naval Architect