New investment competition for green maritime initiatives
Researchers working on marine vessel efficiency are being encouraged to apply for of funding through a competition run by the Technology Strategy Board and partners.
Together with the MOD’s Defence, Science and Technology Laboratory and Scottish Enterprise, the Technology Strategy Board is investing up to £8m to fund fast-track and collaborative research and development to deliver viable solutions for more efficient marine vessels.
The competition, dubbed ‘Vessel Efficiency: Piloting Marine and Maritime Innovation’, is looking for ‘innovative proposals’ that address the issues of improving current vessel performance and efficiency, at the same time as attracting projects for future vessel design, coatings and propulsion systems.
Opening in January 2013, the funds will go to projects with low carbon/green shipping initiatives, propulsion systems or marine ICT which can contribute to more efficiently designed vessels across all marine and maritime industries.
Prospective applications should show that efficiency gains of a minimum of five percent for current vessels could be achieved, with targets of up to 25 percent on future vehicles, according to an online statement by the Technology Strategy Board.
The competition is also aiming to build collaboration across the maritime and marine industry, and develop UK-based supply chains and SMEs to underpin a national Strategy for Growth.
Around ten percent of the funding will be available for fast track projects (lasting between six and 12 months), which should collaborative, business-led and include a small or micro business.
A second stream of funding will be for larger business-led collaborative R&D projects that are expected to last between 12 and 36 months
A briefing event for potential applicants will be held in London on 22 January 2013 and consortia-building events, to help applicants to find partners to work with, will be held before the competition opens in January.
