Drydocks World joins Maritime Emissions Reduction Centre

Drydocks World, a DP World company, has joined the Maritime Emissions Reduction Centre (MERC), expanding the consortium’s technical capabilities and industry collaboration.

Drydocks World joins Maritime Emissions Reduction Centre

The agreement brings a leading ship repair and retrofit facilities into the Athens-based non-profit industry collaboration, which was co-established by the Lloyd’s Register Maritime Decarbonisation Hub and leading shipowners Capital Group, Navios Maritime Partners, Neda Maritime Agency, Star Bulk and Thenamaris (Ships Management) Inc., with enabling support from Lloyd’s Register.

The Maritime Emissions Reduction Centre (MERC) focuses on exploring practical decarbonisation and emissions reduction solutions for the maritime sector, bringing together technical expertise, operational insight and industry collaboration to support the transition toward lower carbon shipping.

Drydocks World’s long-standing reputation for delivering complex engineering projects, coupled with its experience in integrating advanced technologies on board operating vessels, will be central to MERC’s next phase of collaborative work.

With shipyards playing an increasingly important role in the integration of energy efficiency systems, Drydocks World’s expertise is expected to influence how technologies are assessed, prioritised and deployed across different vessel types.

Drydocks World joins MERC at a time of intensified research and development activity, including deeper studies into emerging efficiency technologies, practical integration of advanced systems on existing vessels, and expanded work in hydrodynamics, wind-assisted propulsion, auxiliary power alternatives and data-driven optimisation.

As a Centre Member, Drydocks World reportedly provides essential yard-level insight to help ensure solutions are technically feasible, scalable and deliverable within real-world operational and drydocking constraints – while aligning retrofit and conversion capabilities with evolving regulatory and shipowner requirements, particularly within Europe.

Captain Rado Antolovic, PhD, CEO of Drydocks World, said: “Joining MERC allows us to contribute our engineering and retrofit experience to a collaborative effort that is focused on solutions the industry can actually implement.

“The challenges of decarbonising the existing fleet require practical, evidence-based approaches, and we see real value in working alongside MERC’s partners to help shape technologies and integration strategies that will work across different vessel types.”

Last month, DP World ran a fully electric, self-driving vehicle at its Antwerp Gateway terminal, transporting empty containers and collecting real-time data to inform future autonomous operations.