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A new European tech initiative seeks to develop an AI-supported design platform to help shipowners identify the most effective retrofit pathways for cutting emissions from existing vessels.
Through the FIT-HORIZONS project, Maritime CleanTech and 18 partners across Europe works to build a flexible retrofit design environmentfor low- and zero-emission shipping. The platform will combine simulation, operational data, and AI-supported modelling to assess how different decarbonisation technologies perform on real vessels.
Coordinated by SINTEF Ocean and funded by the European Unionwith nearly €4 million, the project aims to make retrofit decisions faster and more reliable. Instead of evaluating technologies one by one, FIT-HORIZONS will enable ship designers and owners to test combinations of solutions in one integrated decision-support environment.
Testing technology combinations, not single solutions
The challenge is not only to identify promising technologies, but to understand how they interact. A vessel may combine alternative fuels, electrification, wind-assisted propulsion, air lubrication, hull upgrades, and other energy-efficiency measures, but the technical and commercial impact depends on how these solutions work together in operation.
- Reconstruction of existing ships to include one or more new technologies is complex and commercially difficult to evaluate. The industry needs tools that make it easier to identify the most effective decarbonisation routes for each vessel, says Øystein Huglen, Head of Technology and Innovation at Maritime CleanTech.
- Through FIT-HORIZONS, we will help ensure that promising retrofit solutions can move more efficiently from technical assessment to market uptake, Huglen adds.
The design environment will be built to evaluate multiple retrofit technologies simultaneously, giving users a way to compare different technical packages under realistic operating conditions. This is expected to improve both engineering decisions and investment planning for the existing fleet.
At the core of the platform is a combination of machine learning, surrogate modelling, operational data, and high-fidelity simulations.Together, these tools will support faster analysis of retrofit options across vessel types, routes, and operational profiles.
Built for six vessel segments
FIT-HORIZONS will be validated through six virtual demonstrations based on real vessel operations in key European segments: inland waterways, short-sea shipping, long-distance shipping, ferries, cruise vessels, and offshore vessels.
That means the platform is not being developed as a theoretical model alone. It is being designed to support practical retrofit decisions across a wide range of vessel categories, with outputs that can be used by shipowners, designers, and technology providers.
Maritime CleanTech is responsible for maximising industry impact and market uptake in the project, helping ensure that the knowledge and tools developed in FIT-HORIZONS are relevant and useful for the maritime industry.
From technology assessment tomarket uptake
The consortium is building on previous European research while introducing new AI-supported methods for maritime engineering and retrofit optimisation. The goal is to shorten the path from technical screening to solutions that can be approved, financed, and deployed.
By the end of the project in 2029, the FIT-HORIZONS design environment is expected to reach TRL 7-8. The consortium will also develop best-practice recommendations, regulatory pathways, and business models to support broader uptake of retrofit technologies in the market.
With climate regulations such as FuelEU Maritime and the EU Emissions Trading System increasing pressure on shipping to reduce emissions, Maritime CleanTech sees FIT-HORIZONS as a concrete step toward better technical decision tools for the transition of the existing fleet.
FIT-HORIZONS Partners:
Sintef Ocean (Norway), Maritime CleanTech (Norway), Vard Design (Norway), Friendship Systems (Germany), Laskaridis Shipping Company (Greece), SimFWD (Greece), Consiglio Nazionale Delle Ricerche (Italy), Bound 4 Blue (Spain), Entwicklungszentrum für Schiffstechnik und Transportsysteme (Germany), Atlantec Enterprise Solutions (Germany), Alfa Laval Rotterdam (Netherlands), American Bureau of Shipping (Greece), Hurtigruten (Norway), Tidewater Rederi (Norway), Columbia Shipmanagement (Cyprus), Levante Ferries (Greece), University of Strathclyde (UK), Haeger & Schmidt Logistics (Germany), LMG Marin (France).
This project has received funding from European Union’s Horizon Europe Framework program under grant no 101270016.
