University College London News

The world is not on track for zero-emission fuels to account for 5% of international shipping fuels by 2030, a new analysis has found, jeopardizing the shipping industry's 2050 decarbonization goal.Launched at the Global Maritime Forum's annual summit in Athens on Wednesday, the assessment finds that current scalable zero-emissions fuel (SZEF) production in the pipeline would cover just a quarter of the fuel needed by 2030. And the delivery of zero-emission vessels is also faltering. At the end of 2022, there were 24 ships capable of running on SZEF, mostly methanol, with another 144 on order.

Search teams detected underwater sounds while scanning the North Atlantic for a tourist submersible that vanished with five people aboard during a deep-sea voyage to the century-old wreck of the Titanic, the U.S. Coast Guard said early on Wednesday.The detection of the sounds by Canadian aircraft on Tuesday, day three of the search, was reported by the Coast Guard as the clock ticked down to the last 24 hours of the missing craft's presumed oxygen supply.Robotic undersea search operations were diverted to the area where the sounds seemed to originate…

Rescuers were in a race against time to find a missing submersible on Tuesday, two days after it lost communication while taking wealthy tourists to see the wreckage of the Titanic in deep waters off Canada's coast.One pilot and four passengers were on board the submersible that disappeared on Sunday. The operating company said it had the capacity to stay underwater for up to 96 hours - giving those aboard until early on Thursday before air ran out.U.S. Coast Guard Rear Admiral…

Catriona Savage, BMT’s Technical Assurance and Capability Director, has been names President of the Royal Institution of Naval Architects (RINA). She is the organization's first woman President.Savage, who is Honorary Professor at University College London Mechanical Engineering Department, takes over the RINA Presidency from Maurizio d’Amico who has served the institution over the last two years.Commenting on her presidency and vision for the future, Savage said, "I have been a member of RINA for over 25 years since I joined as a student at Southampton University.

BMT welcomed Catriona Savage to the role of Technical Assurance Director, responsible for its global technical authority. She re-joins BMT from a role as the Chair in Naval Architecture and an Honorary Professor at University College London. Previously, she was the Technical Director for BMT’s UK defense business.The Technical Assurance Director is a key leadership role and one that directly supports the successful delivery of business to BMT’s customers across all territories.

Carbon emissions from shipping rose in the six-year period to 2018 and accounted for 2.89% of the world’s CO2, a study released on Tuesday showed, amid growing pressure on the industry to bring levels down.About 90% of world trade is transported by sea and UN shipping agency - the IMO - aims to reduce the industry’s overall greenhouse gas emissions by 50% from 2008 levels by 2050.The report - the fourth in a series commissioned by the IMO - said shipping's share of global CO2 emissions increased to 2.89% in 2018 from 2.76% in 2012, when the last study period ended.CO2 emissions grew to 1,056 m

A U.K. startup tracking fuel-use performance in aviation will look to apply its product in the maritime sector in an effort to improve the environmental record of the shipping industry.One of 10 winners of MarRI-UK funding, Signol and its academic partners at University College London’s Energy Institute have been awarded a total of £130,000 ($162,200) for STEAM (Sustainability Through Efficient Actions in Maritime), a project looking to directly change the behavior of ships’ crews…

With the signing by the France-based international lender to global shipping BNP Paribas and the Swiss multinational investment bank Credit Suisse, Signatories of the Poseidon Principles represent around $140 billion in loans to international shipping – about 30% of the total global ship finance portfolio.Poseidon Principles is a global framework for responsible ship finance which helps incentivize shipping’s decarbonization.They establish a common framework to quantitatively assess and disclose whether financial institutions’ lending portfolios are in line with climate goals set by the International Maritime Organization (IMO), a specialized…

At least $1 trillion of investment in new fuel technology is needed to enable the shipping industry to meet U.N. targets for cuts in carbon emissions by 2050, a study published on Monday showed.The global shipping fleet, which accounts for 2.2% of the world's CO2 emissions, is under pressure to reduce those emissions and other pollution. About 90% of world trade is transported by sea.U.N. shipping agency, the International Maritime Organization (IMO), aims to reduce the industry's greenhouse gas emissions by 50% from 2008 levels by 2050…

A new ground-breaking study by University College London (UCL) Energy Institute, Imperial College and the University of Oxford shows how satellite tracking could be used to monitor compliance with the upcoming IMO 0.5% sulfur emission regulations and Emission Control Areas (ECA).Research conducted by their own researchers, UCL Energy and the University of Oxford and published today in Geophysical Research Letters, has unveiled discoveries that appear important on many levels for they describe the impact of shipping emissions on the climate: because fossil fuel emission particles from ships affect the air including by releasing sulfur…

The Vessel Technology Assessment System Project (VTAS Project) has finished its development stage and is set to go live.The UK-based design, engineering and risk management consultancy firm BMT, in collaboration with Black & Veatch, created VTAS for the Energy Technologies Institute (ETI) in the UK. Watson Farley & Williams (WFW) is the advisor of the project.The VTAS Project ran from 1 January 2018 to 31 March 2019 and brought together the combined maritime and engineering consultancy expertise of BMT and Black & Veatch to inform the commercial maritime industry of the benefits of investing in and promoting fuel efficient technologies.The £1.8m initiative was funded by the ETI…

A consortium, led by Bowman Power Group Ltd has created a new, marine-capable system designed to increase engine efficiency and reduce emissions.According to Bowman, the timing of this technology couldn't be better, coming just months after the International Maritime Organization (IMO) reached an agreement to cut carbon emissions from the global shipping industry by at least half by 2050.The project was part-funded by Innovate UK, the UK’s innovation agency, and a leading research and innovation hub.

IMO’s 2050 deadline to reduce GHG emissions 50% from 2008 levels has set off a gold rush to develop Zero Emissions SolutionsClimate change is the biggest issue facing [all aspects of] the maritime industry, said Kitak Lim, IMO secretary general, in an interview earlier this year with Maritime Reporter & Engineering News. He predicted that shipping could experience as much change in the next 10 to 20 years as it has in the last 100 years, as the industry races to meet a number of challenges…

A who’s who list of maritime industry executives have signed on to voice their support for a zero-carbon future in shipping.The not-for-profit foundation the Global Maritime Forum brought together a group of 34 CEOs and industry leaders from across the global maritime sector to sign a call for action and lead the industry in a transition toward decarbonization.To achieve this, these leaders believe the maritime industry needs to accelerate both technological and business model innovation…

A call by the shipping industry  for governments to compromise on ambition ahead of key UN discussions to reduce maritime emissions actually abandons the goals of the Paris agreement, sustainable transport group Transport & Environment (T&E) has said. It was referring to a statement from International Chamber of Shipping. The International Maritime Organisation (IMO) meets from 3-13 April to adopt an initial greenhouse gas (GHG) strategy for the shipping sector. Faig Abbasov, shipping officer with T&E, said: “The April negotiations are the last chance for the member states of the IMO and the shipping sector to respond to the Paris agreement’s goal of global warming not exceeding 1.5ºC.

Marine coatings increasingly are center stage, not simply to maintain the integrity of vessels, but as a means to make ship ops more efficient and environmentally benign. Maritime Reporter had questons, and two executives – Andreas Glud of Hempel A/S and Michael Hindmarsh of AkzoNobel and – offered answers. What are the drivers for coatings development in the coming five years? Glud The drive to optimize operational efficiency will continue to drive customer demand in the coming years.

Global Maritime Forum, Carbon War Room, the Carbon Pricing Leadership Coalition (CPLC), and University College London (UCL) has announced the launch of a Task Force on Decarbonizing Shipping. This industry-led initiative will develop tangible pathways for shipping’s decarbonization through five working groups, each focussed on a key area of the industry. Outcomes of the task force will be presented at the Global Maritime Forum’s inaugural summit in October 2018. The Task Force on Decarbonizing Shipping will bring together leaders and experts from across the maritime industry to develop and mobilize the industry along tangible pathways aligned with ambitious, science-based emission reduction targets.

A three-year, €6.5 million ($7.7  million) research project has been launched to address safety and efficiency in Arctic ship operations. Funded by the EU’s Horizon 2020 program, SEDNA sets out to develop a risk-based approach to Arctic navigation, ship design and maritime operations. Recent years have seen a rapid increase in shipping operations in Arctic regions, as ice cover has reduced due to global warming. While this offers the potential to save significantly on voyage times…

QinetiQ’s ship and submersible design software, Paramarine, has been used by Mojo Maritime to design an offshore construction vessel for the marine renewables sector. The Hi Flo 4 (HF4) is a dynamic positioning vessel capable of operating in extreme coastal and continental shelf environments, designed with the support of InnovateUK (formerly the Technology Strategy  Board). Mojo Maritime recently won the Best Tidal Industry Collaboration Award at the 8th International Tidal Energy Summit for its leadership of the HF4 R&D consortium…

Carbon War Room (CWR) announced today that a collaboration between Hammonia Reederei, a Hamburg-based shipowner, and New Orleans-based charterer Intermarine, has enabled the retrofit of three sister vessels with multiple efficiency technologies. Under expected operating conditions, each vessel is anticipated to see 25 percent fuel savings, to be shared between Hammonia and Intermarine. José María Figueres, Chairman of the Board, Carbon War Room commented “This deal proves the profitability of shipowners and charterers collaborating on multi-technology retrofits. CWR awarded Hammonia a $120,000 grant to retrofit the vessels Industrial Ruby, Industrial Royal, and Industrial Revolution.

AkzoNobel’s marine coatings business has announced the addition of cruise vessels to Intertrac Vision, its ‘big data’ tool that provides accurate and transparent predictions on the fuel and CO2 savings potential of fouling control coatings, prior to application. The new version of Intertrac Vision brings an increased level of transparency and choice to the cruise sector, enabling AkzoNobel to work consultatively with customers to ensure the most effective and appropriate coatings solution is selected for each vessel within a fleet.

More than 140 university students from across the country are being given a unique insight into working life at BAE Systems, as part of the company’s 12-week summer internship program. At Portsmouth Naval Base and Cowes on the Isle of Wight, 11 interns are currently working across a number of disciplines from HR and finance, through to engineering and supply chain. Now in its third year, this growing program gives students the opportunity to learn from employees who are experts in their fields and gain insights that can only come from real world experience.

The Sustainable Shipping Initiative (“SSI”), a pioneering coalition of companies from across the global shipping industry, today released - ahead of discussions at COP21, which will be held in Paris from 30th November - a statement calling for the shipping industry to play its part in contributing towards the UNFCCC global CO2 reduction target. The Sustainable Shipping Initiative’s statement on CO2 emissions reads as follows: The Sustainable Shipping Initiative (SSI) calls on the shipping industry to encourage and support the International Maritime Organization (IMO) to act urgently in establishing the timely and progressive frameworks…