Industry and academia unite to tackle global shipping challenges at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Some famous names in shipping have teamed up with one of America’s most famous science research institutes to tackle challenges facing global shipping.

ABS, Capital Clean Energy Carriers Corp, HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering, Foresight Group, Navios Maritime Partners, the Singapore Maritime Institute, and Dorian LPG are joining forces with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to create the MIT Maritime Consortium, uniting academia and industry to support the development of cutting-edge technologies that aim to transform the sector, including alternative fuel and new nuclear technologies, data-powered strategies for efficient operations and decision making, autonomy and cybersecurity, as well as onboard manufacturing of spare parts.

“This consortium brings a powerful collection of significant companies that, together, has the potential to be a global shipping shaper in itself,” said Christophe Wiernicki, ABS chairman and CEO. “The members are all world-class organisations and real difference makers. The ability to harness their experience and know-how, along with MIT’s technology reach creates real jet fuel to drive progress. As well as researching key barriers, bottlenecks and knowledge gaps in the emissions challenge, the consortium looks to enable development of the novel technology and policy innovation that will be key. Long term, the consortium hopes to provide the gravity we will need to bend the curve to reach emissions objectives.”

“This is a timely collaboration with key stakeholders from the maritime industry with a very bold and interdisciplinary research agenda that will establish new technologies and evidence-based standards,” said Themis Sapsis, the William Koch Professor of Marine Technology and the director of MIT’s Center for Ocean Engineering. “It aims to bring the best from MIT in key areas for commercial shipping, such as nuclear technology for commercial settings, autonomous operation and AI methods, improved hydrodynamics and ship design, cybersecurity and manufacturing.”

The consortium will launch multiple research projects designed to tackle challenges from a variety of angles, all united by cutting-edge data analysis and computation techniques. Collaborators will research new designs and methods that improve efficiency and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, explore the feasibility of alternative fuels, and advance data-driven decision making, manufacturing and materials, hydrodynamic performance, and cybersecurity.