VTT provides research and innovation support for developing smart shipping solutions, such as zero-emission vessels, autonomous ships and clean power solutions. The goal is to enable zero-emission targets, high performance and safety at sea.
Key facts
The shipping industry will see significant changes in the coming years, requiring the ability to adopt new technologies.
Environmental awareness and technical development bring new challenges.
With us, you can achieve safe and efficient maritime transport through an intelligent combination of hydrodynamics and operational big data.
Environmental awareness and technical development bring new challenges to maritime shipping
The maritime sector is facing a significant change. The volume of marine transport is projected to double by 2050. At the same time, emission standards will become stricter: the International Maritime Organisation's (IMO) target for 2050 is to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 50%. Technological developments will also bring changes to the sector.
Increasing environmental awareness and marine technology enablers produce new megatrends like zero-emission vessels, autonomous ships, and clean power solutions. This also creates challenges for ship design. We take these innovations and turn them into safe and successful maritime solutions for our customers.
Smart shipping saves both money and the environment
Smart shipping enables you to optimise your operation, and our constantly developing design methods can bring you significant energy savings on ships. We can innovate and improve your maritime offering towards zero-emission targets and ensure its high performance and safe operation through smart shipping applications. This will help you reach zero-emission targets within the IMO2050 context. Emissions include herein all emissions; greenhouse gas and other emissions to air, underwater emissions such as noise, emissions inside the vessel, and waste treatment, for example.
Case: MSC Cruises – Versatile emissions research advances more sustainable shipping
To support the decarbonisation of the maritime industry, MSC Cruises and VTT partnered in the EU-funded GREEN RAY project to assess and mitigate methane slip in LNG engines. VTT conducted methane slip measurements onboard the MSC World Europa cruise ship, leading to further emissions assessments across MSC Cruises’ fleet. By providing verified emissions data and developing a unified measurement methodology, the collaboration helps advance cleaner and more sustainable shipping.
VTT can help you adapt to rapid change
All of these changes give companies a lot to adapt to. Business intelligence is becoming part of everyday life in marine transport. Better situational awareness of weather conditions and what is happening on board will increase safety and cost-efficiency. For example, smart technology can be utilised to change a ship's route if wind conditions change.
Modern and responsive vessels bring cost-efficiency to shipowners. The quest for better efficiency will lead to changes in vessels. We will see electric motors, hydrogen engines, and new types of sails – all of which will require maritime operators to be able to adopt new technologies.
The maritime sector has typically been slow to change. Now that the market is moving into a new era, the winners will be those who adapt fastest. VTT will help you adjust.
Inclusive marine technology research infrastructure by VTT
VTT’s marine technology research infrastructure includes facilities both for research, development and innovation as well as verification and validation. A comprehensive range of theoretical and numerical methods is available for exploration and validation of novel concept designs: state-of-the-art computational fluid dynamics methods for ship resistance, propulsion and seakeeping investigations, the VTT ship handling simulator for maneuvering and autonomous navigation and research vessel Aranda for maritime technology and marine environment research. The full-scale tests are applied to validate design concepts.
Design optimisation together with the validation during the concept design stage are the key elements in VTT’s Zero-Emission and smart shipping offering. Moreover, utilising the state-of-art research methods, the operation optimisation studies can be carried out to ensure the most efficient usage of vessel.
Meet some of our experts
Teemu is an expert in safe and energy-efficient maritime transportation.
How to work with us
There are many ways to utilise our expertise in smart ships and maritime technology.
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Contact us!
Tell us what you want to do, and we will figure out how to do it. No project is too small or too ambitious – we would love to hear from you. After the initial assessment, we might be able to offer some of these options. -
Customised partnership
Every research case is unique, and we’re happy to tailor our services to your needs. You will get full ownership of the intellectual property rights of any project we undertake together. -
Cooperative project
We frequently participate in research and development projects with multiple business partners and funding agencies. In cooperative projects, the risk is split between multiple organisations and everyone benefits from the results. -
Our networks at your disposal
We are happy to put you in touch with the ideal sparring and development partner.
