MIT Maritime Consortium Sets Sail to Decarbonize Global Shipping

The maritime shipping industry, responsible for transporting approximately 90% of global trade by volume, faces increasing pressure to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions. A new initiative, the MIT Maritime Consortium (MC), has been launched to address this critical challenge.

Formalized at a signing ceremony at MIT, the consortium aims to foster environmentally friendly operations within the maritime shipping sector, aligning with the decarbonization goals established by the International Maritime Organization.

“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,” stated Themis Sapsis, the William Koch Professor of Marine Technology at MIT and the director of MIT’s Center for Ocean Engineering. He further emphasized that the consortium will leverage MIT’s expertise in areas such as nuclear technology, autonomous operation and AI, improved hydrodynamics and ship design, cybersecurity, and advanced manufacturing.

Co-led by Sapsis and Fotini Christia, the Ford International Professor of the Social Sciences and director of the Institute for Data, Systems, and Society (IDSS), the MIT Maritime Consortium brings together collaborators from across MIT. This includes the Center for Ocean Engineering, IDSS, the departments of Nuclear Science and Engineering and Civil and Environmental Engineering, and MIT Sea Grant.

The consortium’s founding members include the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS), Capital Clean Energy Carriers Corp., and HD Korea Shipbuilding and Offshore Engineering. Innovation members are Foresight-Group, Navios Maritime Partners L.P., Singapore Maritime Institute, and Dorian LPG.

Christia emphasized the collaborative nature of the endeavor, stating, “The challenges the maritime industry faces are challenges that no individual company or organization can address alone. The solution involves almost every discipline from the School of Engineering, as well as AI and data-driven algorithms, and policy and regulation – it’s a true MIT problem.”

Researchers involved will investigate novel designs for nuclear systems that meet the economic and technical demands of commercial shipping, assess the viability of alternative fuels, develop data-driven algorithms for autonomous maritime platforms, enhance cyber-physical situational awareness, and explore 3D printing for onboard manufacturing.

The MC will launch multiple research projects to tackle challenges from various angles, utilizing cutting-edge data analysis and computation techniques. These projects will focus on improving efficiency, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, exploring alternative fuels, and advancing data-driven decision-making, manufacturing and materials, hydrodynamic performance, and cybersecurity.

Christopher J. Wiernicki, chair and chief executive officer of ABS, highlighted the consortium’s potential impact: “This consortium brings a powerful collection of significant companies that, together, has the potential to be a global shipping shaper in itself.”