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Lloyd's Register (LR) in collaboration with the University of Southampton, COSCO Shipping Group, and Shanghai Jiao Tong University, has established the International Maritime Future Technologies Innovation Centre.
The new virtual centre aims to advance research and development in low- and zero-carbon maritime technologies, intelligent ship systems and digital innovation.
It will serve as a global platform for collaboration between industry and academia, supporting the sector's transition towards a smarter and more sustainable future. The focus will be on translating research into practical, scalable solutions for deployment across global fleets.
Led by COSCO Shipping Group, the Centre will draw on each partner's specialist strengths in technical standards, alternative fuels, vessel performance, intelligent navigation and digital modelling. Using COSCO Shipping's extensive operational data and fleet network, it will test and validate new technologies that can deliver practical, real-world decarbonisation solutions.
The University of Southampton will use its expertise in maritime engineering, in particular in providing systems-level modelling of vessel energy use and provision to assess potential alternative fuels for large ocean-going vessels.
The expertise of the University in applying machine-learning to minimising fleet emissions, using our world-leading hydrodynamic testing facilities to understand complex fluid dynamics around ships (allowing emissions reductions), and autonomy for surface vessels, will all contribute to this centre. The institution's experience in working with data recorded on ships at sea and of working with ship owners and operators will also be invaluable.
Professor Fraser Sturt , Director of Southampton Marine and Maritime Institute (SMMI) at the University, said: "It is exciting for the University of Southampton to be a partner in this Global Centre. We have worked alongside LR for many years and this is a great opportunity to work with other leading organisations in the maritime sector."
Professor Dominic Hudson , who leads the Centre for Maritime Futures at the University of Southampton, noted: "The challenges the maritime industry faces in decarbonisation are global and can only be tackled through global collaboration. We look forward to building on our research with other leading ship operators through this new partnership to really impact the shipping industry."
Nick Brown, LR's Chief Executive Officer, said: "This partnership is about turning ambition into action. Together with our partners, we are investing in the ideas, data and technologies that will help the maritime industry meet the challenges of the energy transition head-on and drive change that benefits both business and society."
The founding partners have also established a Technical Committee to oversee research direction, ensure the continuity of innovation and align the Centre's work with the maritime industry's evolving technical and regulatory needs.
Prior to the Centre's establishment, LR worked alongside the Shanghai Shipping and Science Research Institute (a branch of COSCO Shipping Group) and Shanghai Jiao Tong University to develop a techno-economic model for fleet energy transition. The model assesses multiple decarbonisation pathways and their associated costs, providing data-driven tools to support informed decision-making across the sector. The success of this collaboration laid an important foundation for the creation of the new innovation centre.
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