REFEST is focused on the most promising scalable technologies with low CAPEX, easy to deploy and suitable to be installed in a broad range of traditional fishing ships to provide hydrodynamics, electrical power management, alternative propellers, solar electricity generation and propulsion (batteries), sensoring and digitalization, hull appendages and air lubrication. REFEST aims to achieve TRL6 – procedures and technologies to secure the reduction of fuel consumption and GHG emissions up to 40% reduction compared to the original design. The solutions proposed will be designed to ready to deploy in a broad range of small fishing vessels and they are characterized by a low CAPEX and OPEX requirements to significantly reduce the payback time). Ensuring upscaling of the proposed solutions after project implementation till 2029. The main innovations are summarized as follow: i) Innovative design by the use bulbs and spray rails that allow to improve hull hydrodynamics, to minimize the water friction and reduce external and underwater noise, ii)Recyclable thermoplastic composites for maritime applications, iii) Air lubrication systems, iv) Integration of multi-functional optical fibre sensors for hull fishing ships monitoring, v) Propulsion systems based on RIM drive solutions and its hybridization with current diesel engines, vi) Battery pack optimized to be used under cold weathers and with high percentage of reusable/recyclable components, vii) BMS, EMS, and PMS to maximize the energy consumption in the vessel, viii) Cloud-based Eco-driving software and ix) Low-weight and flexible silicon PV panels. viii) Three retrofit demo traditional fishing ships in North Sea (Denmark & Norway) and Baltic Sea (Lithuania).

The main objective of the FIBRESHIP project is to create a new EU-market to build complete large-length ships in FRP (Fibre-Reinforced Polymers) enabling its massive application. In order to achieve this objective, the project will develop, identify and qualify FRP materials for different applications in particular for long-term structural strength and fire resistance. In addition to this, its massive application also requires elaborating innovative design procedures and guidelines supported on new validated software analysis tools. Standardized efficient production methodologies will be implemented and demonstrated by delivering a proof of concept. Clear performance indicators will be designed and applied in the evaluation of three targeted vessels categories (container ship, ferry and fishing research vessel) to be developed within the project. The project will also analyze the life cycle cost benefits of incorporating FRP materials in large-length ships, developing a business plan for the different actors in the value chain. The business plan will cover the different phases of the life cycle from design, engineering, material production and shipbuilding to the final dismantling of the vessel. The use of FRP materials in large-length ships will imply a significant weight reduction (about 30%) and a relevant impact in fuel saving, ship stability, environmental impact (reducing greenhouse gas emissions and underwater noise), and increase of cargo capacity. On the other hand, FRP materials are immune to corrosion and have a better performance under fatigue type loads, what means better life performance and reduced maintenance costs. The mid-term impact is estimated in about 5% of the total shipbuilding market in Europe (turnover about €2.0Bn), and it is envisaged a long term impact of up to 54.000 new direct jobs. Furthermore, it is estimated that the European shipping companies could deduct up to €1Bn/year cost with the adoption of the proposed FRP shipbuilding technology.

The importance of our seas and oceans to the economy and societal well-being is broadly acknowledged. In addition, offshore infrastructure in the form of ports, wind farms, aquaculture facilities, natural gas pipes, etc. has continuously expanded and has become more commonplace in recent years. Activities associated with seabed mapping, monitoring of the health and status of marine habitats, offshore infrastructure inspection, seabed mining and underwater sensing have traditionally been based on the use of crewed support vessels which are expensive to run and have limited endurance. The MERLIN project seeks to exploit long-endurance operational capabilities offered through the use of hydrogen fuel cells and renewable energy installed onboard Unmanned Surface Vessels (USV) and Autonomous Underwater Vessels (AUVs) which are capable of navigating and operating autonomously based on AI algorithms without the need for human intervention. A Mission Remote Control Centre (MRCC) will permit data from the autonomous vessels to be transmitted to base. Conversely, the MRCC will allow the transmission of commands from the supervisor to the robotic vehicles. The vehicles will incorporate advanced surface and underwater grasping capability for the collection of samples, handling, installation and recovery of sensors using custom-built robotic arms. The USV will provide geotagging reference data to the AUVs when they operate underwater and be able to track them during the mission. The USV will be able to navigate from its base to the location of the mission where the AUVs will be released. At the end of the mission the AUVs will dock again with the USV so they can be safely returned to base. The vehicles will be capable of operating independently as well as in combination with support vessels . The demonstration activities include three different high value use cases, including marine habitat monitoring, underwater volcano seabed mapping, and port infrastructure inspection.

To unlock and boost new discoveries that will be crucial to face climate change, and regulate human actives, which will be key for both environmental conservation and socio-economical activities. We aim to make all the past, current, and future biological and oceanographic data available to everybody. Therefore, we will use relevant sleeping data, by designing new tools and methodologies to use and process relevant data already collected for different institutions, which may come from physical and chemical sensors, or video cameras. We will also harmonize the data, promoting tools to make them the standard among researchers and data-generator actors, developing protocols and best practices, like standardization tools as PUCK among marine sensors and monitoring platforms, and unifying libraries and resources (e.g., FanthomNet or Emodnet). At the same time, we will ensure a secured, sustained and reliable data flows by developing auto correction/validation methodologies and by publishing a set of tools and pipelines to ensure the trustfulness of data. Moreover, we will be using economies of scale and enhanced standardization to conduct several pilot sea-basin scale monitoring tests using two strategies: (1) using existing relevant sleeping data form online and partner repositories, and (2) using new data collected during field test demonstrations. Here, we will develop tools to better support assessment: studying and identifying key indicators and mechanisms to extract them from the data will generate the appropriate guidelines for policymaker, researchers, and socioeconomic sectors. Making those tools, methodologies, and implementations open source for the researchers and public in general will boost their utilization and improvement, even after the conclusion of the present project. With these demonstration examples, the international collaboration, and open source resources, we aim to make our proposal by fact the standard gold to follow in the following years

Battery-powered AUVs have been used to study the seabed without the requirement of a human operator. Their operational endurance is limited by the available battery charge. Gliders, an AUV subclass, use small changes in their buoyancy to move like a profiling float. By using their wings, gliders can convert the vertical motion to horizontal, propelling themselves forward with very low power consumption. Hence, mission duration can be extended to months and to thousands of kilometers. However, gliders are suited for a particular set of missions involving relatively basic measurements and seabed mapping cannot be performed due to their inherent inability to cruise in a straight line. A surface support vessel is standard practice for launch and recovery of AUVs. The requirement to have a support vessel adds to the overall mission cost. Therefore higher endurance is needed in AUV platforms in order to bring mission costs down and improve the ocean exploration capability. The ENDURUNS project will deliver a step-change in AUV technology by implementing a novel hybrid design power by hydrogen fuel cell. An Unmanned Surface Vehicle (USV) will support the operation of the AUV, providing geotagging and data transmission capability to and from the Control Centre on shore.