CoPropel puts forth a holistic approach towards the realisation of marine propellers made of advanced composite materials. Compared to their traditional counterparts, marine composite propellers offer efficiency gains in propulsion efficiency, noise reduction and weight savings. The CoPropel project will see an interdisciplinary team of experts drawn both from research and industry, from theoretical considerations and numerical modelling to precision manufacturing - assembly and experimental verification testing. The CoPropel action brings together 9 organisations from 5 countries: 4 Research Institutes – TWI, University of Ioannina, Brunel University London and The Bulgarian Ship Hydrodynamics Centre; 4 Industrial partners – Loiretech, MECA, Danaos and Glafcos Marine with one certification body Bureau Veritas Marine & Offshore. Together, we will develop and bring to market a marine composite propeller with an embedded structural health monitoring system. The proposed activities will mature our Technology Readiness Level to 5-6 and drastically de-risk the integration of the investigated solutions on future products, effectively resulting in reducing the direct operating costs for the operators while minimising the environmental impact. Existing work by the partners has shown an approximate 12% reduction in energy consumption and subsequent fuel consumption, with the potential savings exceeding 15% at full-scale marine vessel propellers, which will be investigated and confirmed during our real-time sea trials as part of the CoPropel project.

The ROBINS project aims at filling the technology and regulatory gaps that today still represent a barrier to the adoption of Robotics and Autonomous Systems (RAS) in activities related to inspection of ships, understanding end user’s actual needs and expectations and analyzing how existing or near-future technology can meet them. ROBINS aims to improve the ability of RAS in sensing and probing, in navigation and positioning in confined spaces, as well as the capability to access and move safely within hazardous spaces. ROBINS also aims to provide new software tools for image and data processing, e.g. for production of 3D models and virtual/augmented reality environments, to provide the surveyor with the same level of information as obtained by direct human observation. A framework for the assessment of equivalence between the outcomes of RAS-assisted inspections and traditional procedures will also be provided by defining test procedures, criteria and metrics for the evaluation of RAS performance. Test campaigns will be performed both on-board and in a specific testing facility, where repeatable tests and measurements can be carried out. The development of robust technical solutions and a regulatory framework for RAS-assisted ship inspection is expected to streamline wide scale adoption of RAS technology in marine industry. The impact on safety, as far as hazardous environments are involved, can be easily understood and has already been witnessed in similar industrial domains (energy, oil and gas). The economic impact is expected to be beneficial for robotics industry (new supply chains and new potential markets), ICT industry (new services and products for data processing specific to marine industry), ship asset owners and operators (reduction of costs due to simplified preparation of items, reduced survey duration, improved quality and variety of inspection services) and certification bodies (new certification schemes for equipment, operators and procedures).

Under the framework of Zero Emission Waterborne Transport (ZEWT), hydrogen as the future fuel for ships offers an opportunity to zero the GHG emission. Nevertheless, the challenges for onboard hydrogen storage and utilisation obstruct this long desired revolution. Novel and effective technology solution is urgently needed. The project, RESHIP, aims to redefine the onboard energy saving solutions for newbuilds and retrofits in marine and inland waterway with disruptive technologies in two distinct areas, Energy Saving Devices (ESDs) and onboard hydrogen utilisation. Regarding the ESDs, the project proposes to research and develop hydrogen compatible ESD solutions in standalone/combined applications, centered around Tubercle Assisted Propulsors (TAPs), to improve the vessel's propulsive energy efficiency and to optimise towards hydrogen power and drive system. With the novel and energy efficient hydrogen carrier technology HydroSil, RESHIP links the ESD technology to the research of the energy efficient onboard hydrogen utilisation technology to systematically reshape the hydrogen driven ships with a holistic energy saving solution. Together, RESHIP aims to achieve a minimum overall 35% energy saving and to half the hydrogen storage demands on space and/or weight, comparing to the state-of-the-art hydrogen powered vessels. The proposal responds to the Horizon Europe Research and Innovation Action call on the topic “Innovative on-board energy saving solutions” (ID: HORIZON-CL5-2021-D5-01-10). The consortium gathers world-leading multidisciplinary experts and key patent holders with 13 partners from 9 EU countries, forging a complementary stakeholder group. The consortium covers two industrial sectors, shipping and ships together with hydrogen. The implementation of the developed technologies will be demonstrated and validated in technical, environmental, cost economical, safety and regulatory levels, bringing TRL from 2-3 to 5-6.