Carisbrooke Shipping Ltd to trial a hydrogen engine onboard

Carisbrooke Shipping have partnered with Carnot Ltd whose consortium has been awarded £2.3M to develop a zero-emission 50kW Hydrogen auxiliary engine demonstrator.

Following design, simulations and rigorous testing, the revolutionary single-fuel hydrogen 50kW engine will be integrated into a containerised system and mounted on the deck of one of our cargo vessels for a 40-day sea trial in early 2025 to partially supply electrical power to the vessel. The core goal is to validate the decarbonising impact that high efficiency, zero emission engines can have in the maritime industry and build on work from the previously successful CMDC 1 & 2 grants.

In the future, this technology could be used to power tug-boats, ferries, cargo vessels, tankers and container ships.

Bureau Veritas and The Maritime and Coastguard Agency are also being engaged as the vessel’s regulatory authorities to ensure a safe path to regulatory compliance. This will be among the first projects to achieve Approval in Principle for a Hydrogen power generation technology on board a UK Flagged vessel.

Carisbrooke Shipping Ltd a family-owned business with over 50 years in operation and a long-standing commitment to innovation. The company’s philosophy is to lead the industry by building new, more efficient vessels to replace the existing ones and around 100 vessels were built at shipyards all over the world.

Decarbonising the Maritime sector

The global shipping industry faces an enormous decarbonising challenge, currently accounting for 3% of global Greenhouse gas emissions. Existing IMO regulations stipulate that by 2030, all vessels must reduce their CO2 per ton-mile 40% compared to 2008 levels, and by 2050 must be completely Net Zero.

The UK’s race to decarbonise the maritime sector has been given another vital boost, with £60 million in Government funding distributed to innovative companies nationwide developing futuristic green technology. For the first time, the UK Government is funding the development of new clean maritime technology across a two-year period. The funding comes from the third round of the Government’s Clean Maritime Demonstration Competition (CMDC3), which focuses on developing a range of clean maritime technologies including hydrogen, ammonia, electric and wind power.

During the two-year investment period we will be required to demonstrate that our project will work in the real world, helping the technology to progress towards becoming an everyday reality.