Carbon capture and storage is expected to play a major role in the decarbonisation of shipping and other industries. Whether that captured carbon is sent for permanent storage or is purified for further industrial use, specialist vessels will need to be built to ship the gas.

Converting LNG gas tankers to floating LNG storage units is a complex business. It requires merging ship design with LNG industry processing equipment arrangements, with stability and weight key issues.

Data centres are a drain on critical power and water supplies, raising concerns about competing costs for resources. Floating data centres can solve many of the concerns around this technology.

Fully electric, eCSOV’s are being designed in Spain for Bibby Marine. Battery power, with enough energy to power a CSOV for 24hours, will increase efficiency and cut costs according to the company. New and more thermally stable batteries will aid the transition.

Power generation and offshore support vessels are both in the frame to benefit from fourth-generation small modular nuclear reactors. Ulsteinvik and Island Offshore explore the possibilities.

Deeper, more exposed and less accessible fossil fuel reserves require more sophisticated offshore support vessel designs. With floating LNG increasingly in demand to help access and process fuels.

A new era in offshore power has seen the development of the first Energy Islands off European coasts. The first will be the six-hectare Princess Elisabeth Island, which is under construction 45km off the coast of Belgium and is due to be completed in 2028.

The first wind turbines to be deployed are reaching the end of their operational life. The question is, should the sites be re-used or retired?

Brazil’s emerging offshore industry offers an alternative challenge for naval architects. The region’s shallow water will require redesigned vessels that will work in very different conditions to those experienced in Europe’s North Sea. Brazil’s offshore ships will look quite different from the platform supply vessels (PSVs) and anchor handlers (AHTS) currently in use there.

The levelised cost of energy has seen offshore wind dive well below fossil fuels. And following damage reports in the Middle East there is a chance that this situation will persist for some years. Oil is expected to remain around US$90/barrel, prompting European operators to develop electric solutions, charging support vessels on location at windfarm arrays.

Making American Shipbuilding Great Again is a challenge that has been accepted by South Korean Yard Hanwha, with its investment in the Philly Yard. To resuscitate the industry will need a major effort, but it could start with the smaller, less complex vessels operating in offshore wind and could provide an opportunity for naval architects too.

The number of floating LNG projects are increasing fast. Today’s liquefaction capacity is forecast to more than treble from 16 million to 55 million tonnes by 2040.