About Us
Our Vision
Our vision is to go beyond conventional marine engineering and naval architecture to create a pioneering research hub, providing technically, environmentally, socially and economically informed pathways to decarbonise the maritime sector.
The Hub will harness the depth, breadth and diversity of research being undertaken in the UK to foster collaboration, drive forward innovation and transformation, setting a global benchmark for excellence.
Stats & Figures
The shipping industry faces significant challenges in reducing its carbon footprint due to its reliance on high-emission fuels, the slow adoption of new technologies, and the complexity of retrofitting existing vessels.
6th
If the maritime sector was a country, it would be the world's 6th largest emitter of GHG, equivalent to Germany
15%
Percentage increase in CO2 emissions from international shipping between 2012 - 2023, reflective of the increase in the volume of goods shipped by sea
30%
Approximate operational emissions from ships at anchor or in port due to onboard power generation, despite not being actively engaged in sailing
22.2 years
Average age of a ship in operation, compounding the decarbonisation challenge; many ships are too old to retrofit or too young to scrap
About Us
Led by Durham University, we are a collaboration of 13 universities including Aston, Birmingham, Brighton, City University London, Cranfield, Liverpool, Newcastle, Sheffield, Solent Southampton, St Andrews and Ulster.
01
Leading Research and Innovation
We are taking research to new depths. Pioneering exploration into zero-emission fuels and their safe use, advanced power and propulsion systems, infrastructure and operational considerations, digitalisation and green finance opportunities and, new vessel designs for efficiency.
02
Fostering Collaboration
We are a collaborative ecosystem of expertise. We invite the right thinkers to the table to thoroughly understand the challenges and explore solutions. We bridge the worlds of academia, business, civic bodies and government in order to share knowledge and co-create research ideas.
03
Driving Transformation
Through our research and innovation we are steering the maritime sector towards a cleaner future. Our unwavering commitment extends beyond borders, as we accelerate the UK’s position as a global leader, propelling forward the transformation needed to reduce emissions onshore and at sea.
Our research will focus on 5 key themes
- 01Advances in scale up of marine fuels, and their safe use
- 02New and efficient low-carbon power and propulsion systems
- 03Decarbonised energy systems, ports and infrastructure
- 04Reduced energy demand through advanced vessel design and increased efficiency
- 05Advances in maritime operations, exploitation of digitalisation and green finance
Our research will deliver:
Environmental Impact
- GHG emission reduction
- Air quality improvement
- Marine ecosystem preservation
Economic Impact
- Investment opportunities
- Job creation
- Cost reduction
- Market competitiveness
Social Impact
- Health benefits
- Community resilience
- Sustainable livelihoods
- Building capacity and skills
- Promoting EDI
Our Team
Our expertise is spread across the UK. Our consortium members and their universities are detailed below.
Aston University
- Prof Patricia Thornley
- Dr Jean-Baptiste Souppez
- Dr Sina Fadaie Sestelani
University of Birmingham
- Dr Dawei Wu
- Prof Pietro Tricoli
- Prof Athansios Tsolakis
- Dr Ebrahim Nadimi
- Dr Mengda Wu
University of Brighton
- Dr Cliff Dansoh
- Dr Angad Panesar
City University, London
- Dr loannis Moutzouris
- Dr Yao Shi
Cranfield University
- Prof Ying Xie
- Dr Asefe Forghani
Durham University
- Prof Tony Roskilly
- Dr Andy Smallbone
- Prof Yaodong Wang
- Dr Janie Ling-Chin
- Dr Richard Williams
- Dr Claire Copeland
- Rachel Simpson
- Muriel Schindler
- Dr Ugochukwu Ngwaka
- Dr Dibyendu Roy
- Dr Mrinal Bhowmik
Liverpool University
- Prof Dongping Song
- Dr Reza Eshtehadi
Newcastle University
- Prof Pengfei Liu
- Sr Serkan Turkmen
- Dr Xiang Xie
- Prof Zhiqiang Hu
- Dr Samir Belhenniche
University of Nottingham
- Prof Alasdair Cairns
- Prof Chris Gerada
- Dr Sikai Geng
University of Sheffield
- Prof Rachael Rothman
Southampton Solent University
- Dr Laurie Wright
St Andrews University
- Prof John Irvine
- Dr Martin Smith
- Dr Shu Wang
Ulster University
- Prof Vladimir Molkov
- Dr Dmitriy Makarov
- Dr Sergii Kashkarov
- Dr Hazhir Ebne-Abbasi
- Dr Hanguang Xie