A 19-member European consortium has launched FIT-Horizons, a project aimed at helping shipowners make faster and more reliable decisions about decarbonizing their existing fleets.
Coordinated by SINTEF Ocean and backed by nearly €4m (US$4.6m) in European Union funding, the project will develop an intelligent retrofit design environment that combines advanced simulation tools, AI-supported modeling and operational data into a single framework. The project runs until 2029.
The maritime sector accounts for around 3% of global CO2 emissions. While new zero-emission vessels are entering service, most ships operating today are expected to remain in service for decades, making retrofit of the existing fleet critical to meeting international climate targets.
“Shipping needs practical pathways to decarbonization now, not only in the future,” said Dr Kourosh Koushan, special advisor at SINTEF Ocean and project coordinator. “FIT-Horizons will help the industry make better retrofit decisions by understanding how different technologies interact on board a vessel. Our ambition is to reduce uncertainty and accelerate the transition from analysis to implementation.”
The platform will evaluate multiple retrofit technologies simultaneously – including alternative fuels, electrification, wind-assisted propulsion, air lubrication systems, hull modifications and energy efficiency solutions – analyzing how combinations of technologies perform together under realistic operating conditions across different vessel categories.
Six virtual demonstrations will be developed based on real operating vessels covering key European ship segments: inland waterways, short-sea shipping, long-distance shipping, ferries, cruise vessels and offshore vessels.
“Reconstruction of existing ships to include one or more new technologies is complex and commercially difficult to evaluate. The industry needs tools that make it easier to identify the most effective decarbonization routes for each vessel,” said Øystein Huglen, head of technology and innovation at Maritime CleanTech, which is leading industry outreach and market uptake efforts for the project.
By integrating machine learning, surrogate modeling, operational data and high-fidelity simulations, the consortium aims to reach a technology readiness level of TRL 7–8 by project completion. The consortium will also develop recommendations covering best practices, regulatory approval processes and business models to support wider adoption of retrofit solutions.
The project comes as regulations including FuelEU Maritime and the EU Emissions Trading System increase pressure on the sector to cut emissions.
FIT-Horizons partners include SINTEF Ocean, Maritime CleanTech, Friendship Systems, Vard Design, Laskaridis Shipping Company, American Bureau of Shipping, Hurtigruten, Columbia Shipmanagement, the University of Strathclyde, and Alfa Laval Rotterdam, among others.
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