A consortium of 8 organisations led by Port of London Authority have been awarded £1.3m as part of the Smart Maritime Land Operations Call.
Specifically, the grant will help develop a national hydrogen highway network, integrating land, sea and port. At the same time, the funding aims to boost technological innovation that enables smart maritime land operations for the sector.
Supporting the building of a state-of-the-art hydrogen network will enable us to reduce emissions, create green jobs across the UK and consolidate our position as international leaders in green maritime.
…Robert Courts, Maritime Minister, said.
For the records, the Call was launched in November 2020, with organisations from across the UK able to apply for grants to develop mid TRL (TRL 3-7) technologies.
Out of 19 submissions, 1 were selected for funding by independent reviewers. Criteria included their impact and benefits for the maritime sector, innovation aspect, strategic fit with Maritime 2050, alignment with the MarRI-UK vision, and value for money.
MarRI-UK anticipates that the UK maritime sector’s future will involve smart ships, exploiting advanced navigation and communications technologies with on-board sensors and intelligent systems. Increasing reliance on new technologies coupled with environmental challenges across the sector creates new and more demanding requirements for industry.
The award of this grant marks a positive step forward in achieving the MarRI-UK vision. This grant is extremely important to the UK maritime industry and provide unique opportunities for emerging technologies to be applied whilst supporting innovation; ensuring that sustainability remains at the core of our thinking. I very much look forward to seeing the developments as they unfold.
….as John Howie MBE, Chair of MarRI-UK noted.
