The Clean Maritime Research Partnership was formed to bridge the gap between the academic research community and maritime stakeholders, with a view to co-creating a greener future for the sector. This workshop focused on the unique role ports play in decarbonising the maritime sector and the research capability available within the academic community to support this.
Participants engaged in knowledge sharing and thought leadership to identify practical solutions to accelerate the decarbonisation efforts in the maritime industry. There was representation from across the sector and academia, including but not limited to:
ABL Group, Peel Ports, Hadland Maritime, Carisbrooke Shipping, Ceres Power, Connected Places Catapult, Infineum, Freeport East, Stellar Systems, International Association of Classification Societies, Department for Transport, Port of Dover, Port of Felixstowe, COSCO Shipping and Scottish Power, Cranfield University and Bayes Business School.
Session 1: Port-centred systems
This workshop featured lighting talks from leading experts on port-centred systems, from both academic and stakeholder perspectives:
- Tim Van Vugt (Port of Dover)
- Prof Ying Xie (Cranfield University)
- James Riddick (Peel Ports Group)
- Paul Martin (ABL Group)
Subsequent workshops facilitated problem-solving conversations to explore ways in which industry and academia can work together to address the decarbonisation challenge, with session 1 outputs focussing on:
- Ports as energy hubs
- Port roadmap with funding needs
- Maximise operational efficiency
- Data driven decision making
- Skills development around new digital technologies
- Follow best practice from other industry sectors
Session 2: Ports and their wider systems and infrastructure
Session 2 featured further lightning talks from the speakers below, examining the role of ports as key enablers across the decarbonisation value chain.
- Steven Wilson (Freeport East)
- Dr Ioannis Moutzouris – (City University)
- Simon Merritt – (Carisbrooke Shipping)
- Matthew Napleton – (Zizo Technology)
The workshop that followed focused on system-wide thinking to identify research opportunities, aligning the needs of the industry with research expertise in universities around:
- Grid capacity – assurance of electricity supply
- Create framework to incentivise behaviour change
- Explore impact of moving away from fossil fuels on shipping operations
- System to become self-financing
- Incentives for investment
- Safety of new fuels – build consumer & community confidence
Outputs
A briefing paper was produced which has been shared with UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and UK-SHORE, capturing the commitment and capability within the Clean Maritime Research Partnership to decarbonise the maritime sector.