Biofouling management is increasingly central to maritime decarbonisation, with hull condition directly influencing fuel consumption, emissions and Carbon Intensity Indicator performance. By evaluating antifouling technologies, in-water cleaning practices and environmental impacts, this research highlights the trade-offs between operational efficiency and ecosystem protection, guiding more balanced and sustainable vessel management strategies.

Residual buoyancy and compartmentalisation remain fundamental to ship survivability, driving continued interest in efficient methods for assessing damage resilience during the earliest stages of design. Growing use of automated design exploration and parametric modelling is enabling survivability considerations to be incorporated more effectively into concept development, supporting faster evaluation of alternative configurations and more informed design decisions.

Dynamic positioning systems are becoming increasingly sophisticated as autonomous and highly manoeuvrable vessels demand greater accuracy, robustness, and responsiveness in station-keeping operations. Advances in adaptive control strategies and disturbance-rejection techniques are enhancing the ability of marine vehicles to maintain precise positioning under uncertain environmental conditions, supporting safer and more reliable operation of next-generation surface vessels.

Precise control of remotely operated underwater vehicles is becoming increasingly important as subsea operations expand into more complex and demanding environments. Growing adoption of advanced control methodologies is improving vehicle stability, positioning accuracy, and disturbance rejection, supporting more reliable underwater inspection, intervention, and exploration activities in challenging ocean conditions.

As demand grows for high-speed multihull vessels capable of operating safely and comfortably in challenging sea conditions, accurate prediction of seakeeping performance is becoming increasingly important. Advances in CFD-based simulation are providing deeper insight into trimaran motion responses and complex wave interactions, supporting more reliable design assessments and improved vessel operability, safety, and passenger comfort.