An innovative £10M research project will investigate the potential of harnessing offshore wind and marine renewable energy to produce zero carbon hydrogen and ammonia fuels.

The University of Strathclyde will lead the multi-disciplinary Ocean-REFuel: Ocean Renewable Energy Fuels project, which will explore ways of converting ocean energy into fuels for use in heating, energy storage and difficult to decarbonise transport applications.

The news comes as the UK prepares to host COP26, the UN Climate Change Conference, in Glasgow and the consortium includes world-leading research teams from the Universities of Nottingham, Cardiff, Newcastle and Imperial College London. The project is funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, industry, and the partner universities, who have also pledged a total of nine linked PhD studentships.

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The UK government has officially launched the national flagship project and is now seeking UK designers and shipbuilders to construct the vessel.

The competition inviting bids was launched on July 28 at an industry event at the Old Royal Naval College in Greenwich. It comes after the project was first announced in May 2021.

Setting out the timetable of the project, defence secretary Ben Wallace revealed that the tender will run until the end of October, with winners announced in December 2021.

Construction, which Wallace said will take place at a British yard, will begin “as early as next year” with the “ship in the water by 2024 or 2025”

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Forth Ports Limited, Scotland’s largest ports operator and owner of seven Scottish ports on the east coast, has today intimated to the Scottish Government that it will submit a proposal for a Green Port encompassing key ports, industrial complexes and logistics centres along the north and south shores of the Firth of Forth and at Edinburgh Airport.

The Scottish Government has invited expressions of interest for the creation of a Green Port, which is a large, zoned area with a defined boundary within which operators and businesses can benefit from a package of financial and customs incentives which can attract inward investment.

Subject to sight of the Scottish Government’s full Green Ports prospectus, Forth Ports, which has been a port operator for over 50 years, proposes that the Firth of Forth Green Port will encompass strategic locations along the Forth Estuary, including Grangemouth (home to Scotland’s Freight Hub and principal petrochemical cluster) and the Port of Leith, where Forth Ports announced in May that it plans to create a £40 million renewable energy hub.

Fife and the City of Edinburgh are also expected to feature in Forth Ports’ Green Ports bid. Forth Ports are currently evaluating sites in Fife along the North Shore of the Firth of Forth from Longannet to Rosyth. Edinburgh Airport is also expected to feature for its international connectivity. Each of these locations are uniquely placed to deliver on all of the objectives of the proposed Green Ports policy.

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Brittany Ferries is to add two new hybrid LNG-electric ro-pax ferries to its fleet in 2024-2025 as part of its fleet renewal plan, which is one of the pillars of its five-year, post-Covid recovery strategy.

Both new vessels will be chartered from Stena RoRo #vessels  on a 10-year agreement, which includes an option for Brittany Ferries to purchase them after four years. One will replace Normandie on the route between Portsmouth, UK and Caen, France, while the other will replace Bretagne on the route between Portsmouth and St Malo, France.

The ferries will join two other LNG-fuelled vessels in the fleet, Salamanca and Santoña in 2023, which will operate routes between the UK and Spain from 2022 and 2023 respectively.

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Manor Marine UK Ltd has secured a contract with Mainprize Offshore to build an offshore multi role windfarm service vessel; the MO8 is a bespoke in-house designed 26-metre Supa Swath catamaran designed by Walker Marine Design and due for delivery in Q2 2022.

The build of the MO8 will be the sixth crew transfer vessel constructed by Manor Marine, but the first vessel built for Mainprize Offshore; featuring a Supa-Swath hull form, the vessel will have 175m2 of deck space, a cargo capacity of 35 tonnes, seating for 24 passengers and a maximum speed of 27 knots.

Walker Marine Design has designed several of Manor Marine’s previous vessel build projects, including both the Manor Venture and Manor Endurance for Manor Renewable Energy.

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A specialist marine engineering firm is set to be hired to work on Hull’s £73m cruise terminal project.

Salt panning returns to Highland village after 200 years

A new pedestrian bascule bridge in London’s Docklands has received “substantial public backing” at recent consultation.

First ever Unmanned Marine Systems (UMS) certificate has been awarded

The first commercial boat equipped with a suspension system could be a game-changer for the offshore wind market.