Grant News
The Department for Transport is offering up to £8 million in funding to support UK-registered organisations developing innovative smart shipping technologies for maritime decarbonisation.
The Smart Shipping Acceleration Fund aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve air quality by supporting collaborative feasibility studies on scalable technologies like artificial intelligence, robotics, and autonomous vessels. This could include projects ranging from self-driving boats to automated systems at ports.
Projects can focus on one or more of the following:
- vessel optimisation and smart efficiency technologies
- vessel efficiency focused on data, software or autonomy
- autonomous vessels including subsystems such as control systems and sensors
- sensor and robotic systems both within the port environment and on the vessel
- smart maintenance operations technologies
- port and shipyard operations optimisation and digitisation
- digital tools such as for smart route planning and emissions monitoring
- big data and AI, how new business models can create value in the maritime sector and the optimisation and planning of maritime traffic
- smart shipping safety and skills
The fund, administered by Innovate UK, will support project costs of between £75,000 and £750,000.
Match funding is required.
The Smart Shipping Acceleration Fund comes from the existing £206 million UK Shipping Office for Reducing Emissions (UKSHORE) programme.
The closing date for applications is the 26th June 2024.
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