The general objective of sHYpS is to support the decarbonisation of the shipping industry, by leveraging on previous and on-going work and investment made by Viking and some consortium members. It will develop a hydrogen-based solution, which can be adapted to multiple types of vessels and in some cases can already achieve IMO’s target for 2030 and 2050. The project will develop a (i) novel hydrogen storage intermodal 40’ ISO c-type container, (ii) the complete detailed design of modular containerised powertrain based on optimised PEM Fuel Cells and (iii) their dedicated logistics. On one hand the project will define a logistic based on swapping pre-filled containers, on the other hand it will define a perspective scale-up of the storage capacity and the supply applied to the Port of Bergen use-case. This will allow to kick start a supply-chain without waiting for the full infrastructure to be in place. We show how this approach can already support a remarkable part of the vessels in the EU waters. The project will use the window of opportunity of 1 Viking’s newbuilds Ocean Cruise vessel to install the storage system onboard with the complete gas handling and energy management system and test it during the shakedown cruise by 2026, with a limited power Fuel Cell. When the 6MW will be in place (pendent investment decision by Viking) this will allow to cut 50% of emissions in a 14 days fjord cruise. The midterm outcomes are remarkable, since Viking has a building program of 6 Ocean Cruise ships by 2030 and several river ships. With the right logistics in place the ISO container technology can develop in hundreds of units per year. In the meantime, the upscaled design of the container from this project will approach more segments in sea and IWW application and look to hundreds of vessels in the order book of commercial fleets. The value-chain include LH2 suppliers, giving the opportunity to speed up a supply of thousands tons of LH2 per year in the next 20 years.

SEAMLESS aims at developing and adapting missing building blocks and enablers into a fully automated, economically viable, cost-effective, and resilient waterborne freight feeder loop service for Short Sea Shipping (SSS) and/or Inland Waterways Transport (IWT). Autonomous systems will be integrated to ensure safe, resilient, efficient, and environmentally friendly operation to shift road freight movements to hinterland waterways, while enhancing the performance of the TEN-T network. The service will be delivered 24/7 by a fleet of autonomous cargo shuttles, with humans-in-the-loop located in Remote Operation Centres (ROCs), which efficiently cooperate with automated and autonomous shore-side infrastructure and safely interact with conventional systems. The services will rely on a redesigned logistics system enabling seamless freight flows by minimising delays at intermodal nodes. A digital bird’s eye view of the supply chain allows the exploitation of real-time information for planning optimisation and reconfiguration to support resilient logistics, incl. digitalised administrative procedures. The SEAMLESS building blocks will be verified and validated by conducting full-scale demonstrations in selected real-world scenarios. Transferability will be fully demonstrated in selected use cases that cover a wide range of transport applications and geographical regions throughout Europe. Based on a structured methodological framework evaluating sustainability criteria, they will act as guidance for the replication of the project results beyond the project scope and timespan. Novel business models will be thus developed and provide a framework for implementing the SEAMLESS service to minimise investment risk for first movers. Regulatory gaps and challenges related to autonomous vessel operation (e.g. social aspects) will be identified, and recommendations for policy makers to allow the smooth and safe deployment of fully automated services will be provided.