Artemis Technologies secures almost £3.4m clean maritime funding

Projects led by the Belfast Maritime design company aimed at making emission-free maritime transport a reality have been awarded almost £3.4 million in the latest round of the UK’s Clean Maritime Demonstration Competition (CMDC).

The funding from the Department for Transport will support the research and development of three new innovative technologies to accelerate maritime decarbonisation in the UK.

The three initiatives will see the high-performance maritime design and applied technologies company collaborate with six other global and industry leading partners – Tidal Transit, Energia Hydrogen, Lloyd’s Register, Ulster University, ORE Catapult and Belfast Harbour Commissioners.

David Tyler, commercial director at Artemis Technologies, said: “Following years of underinvestment in research and innovation by the maritime industry, the sector is under real pressure to develop and adopt disruptive technologies if it has any chance of achieving the UK’s ambitious net zero targets.

“The clean maritime demonstration competition is welcomed by the sector and will play a critical role in helping accelerate the UK’s transition to a more sustainable maritime future.

“We are thrilled to be leading on projects which, given the significant financial support announced, the Department for Transport and Innovate UK believe can be a catalyst in the clean shipping revolution, and we are proud to be playing our part in the decarbonisation of maritime.”

Artemis Technologies will team with globally respected maritime classification society Lloyd’s Register, Ulster University, and renewable energy expert, Energia Hydrogen, on a £2.8 million project aimed at developing and testing a novel Hydrogen Hybrid Range Extender system.

The maritime leader will also spearhead a collaborative R&D project to accelerate the next phase of the detailed design and engineering of a 24m electric foiling Crew Transfer Vessel (CTV), alongside experienced CTV owner and operator, Tidal Transit.

The project which has received £967,000 from the Clean Maritime Demonstration Competition, and builds on the CMDC Wave 1 ‘eFoiler CTV' feasibility study, will also involve ORE Catapult, a research technology organisation specialising in the offshore renewables sector.

The third project to be backed by the Clean Maritime Demonstration Competition, receiving almost £212,000, is for a feasibility study, alongside Belfast Harbour Commissioners, to ascertain if a 100% electric foiling Pilot Vessel is a technical and economically viable solution to decarbonise pilot vessel operations.

Known as the 'eFoiler Pilot', the vessel would utilise the same transformative Artemis eFoiler® electric propulsion technology set to power other Artemis vessels already launched to market.

The three Artemis Technologies-led projects are part of the Clean Maritime Demonstration Competition Round 2 (CMDC2) which was launched in May 2022, funded by the Department for Transport and delivered in partnership with Innovate UK. As part of the CMDC2, the Department allocated over £12m to 31 projects supported by 121 organisations from across the UK to deliver feasibility studies and collaborative R&D projects in clean maritime solutions.

Innovate UK executive director for Net Zero, Mike Biddle, explained: “The maritime sector is of crucial importance to the UK, with more than 95% of our trade running through the major ports that connect us to the global economy.”