Decarbonizing Long Distance Shipping - CHEK Project Video Released
An animated educational video explaining the aims and expected outcomes of the EU Horizon 2020 research project CHEK - deCarbonizing sHipping by Enabling Key technology symbiosis on real vessel concept designs, has been released at www.projectchek.eu.
The World Maritime University (WMU) is a CHEK project partner and is working with a European Consortium to demonstrate two bespoke vessel designs – a wind energy optimized bulk carrier and a hydrogen powered cruise ship – equipped with an interdisciplinary combination of innovative technologies working in symbiosis to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 99%, reducing energy use by 50%.
The project proposes to decarbonize long-distance shipping by disrupting the traditional way ships are designed and operated today. Rather than “stacking” novel technologies onto existing vessel designs, the consortium proposes to develop a unique Future-Proof Vessel (FPV) design platform. The platform will allow the CHEK consortium to accomplish the main project objective of designing, developing and demonstrating (at full scale) two first-of-a-kind vessel concepts that:
<indent-large>(i) are based on real operational profiles rather than design parameters tailored to pass sea trials only;<indent-large>
<indent-large>(ii) fully integrate cutting edge technologies within the vessel design, thus maximizing the symbiosis between technologies and ultimately helping to achieve radical emission reductions not seen up to date;<indent-large>
<indent-large>(iii) offer their benefits at acceptable cost to ship owners, operators and society;<indent-large>
<indent-large>(iv) are future-proof, i.e. designed with resilience against most probable future challenges such as tightening regulations, changing fuel prices, but also capable of adapting to emerging opportunities.<indent-large>
The FPV Platform will also serve as a basis for replicating the CHEK approach towards other vessel types such as tankers, container ships, general cargo ships and ferries as these jointly cover over 93% of the global shipping tonnage and are responsible for 85% of global GHG emissions from shipping.
The expected impacts of CHEK are directly linked to the UN Sustainable Development Goals including Goal 13 focused on climate action, Goal 7 focused on affordable and clean energy and Goal 14 focused on life below water, as well as the IMO 2050 goals and the EU Green Deal.
Funded under the EU Horizon 2020 programme, project CHEK is coordinated by the University of Vaasa and includes the trend-setting marine equipment manufacturer Wärtsilä, two of the largest shipowners/charterers worldwide (MSC Cruises, Cargill International), four clean technology providers (Climeon, Hasytec, Silverstream Technologies, BAR Technologies), the world’s first marine classification society (Lloyd’s Register), leading ship designers Deltamarin and WMU, a postgraduate academic institution of the IMO. The project runs from June 2021 to May 2024 with a 10 million Euro grant over the three years.
The video can be accessed on the CHEK website at: www.projectchek.eu