Lloyd’s Register’s Maritime Emissions Reduction Centre (MERC) has welcomed Drydocks World, a DP World company, as its latest Centre member, strengthening the consortium’s technical depth and expanding its global network.
The partnership marks a significant step in the Centre’s international expansion and its focus on delivering practical decarbonisation solutions for the existing fleet. The signing of the agreement brings one of the leading shiprepair and retrofit facilities into the Athens-based non-profit industry collaboration, which was co-established by the Lloyd’s Register Maritime Decarbonisation Hub and shipowners Capital Group, Navios Maritime Partners, Neda Maritime Agency, Star Bulk and Thenamaris (Ships Management), with enabling support from Lloyd’s Register (LR).
Drydocks World’s 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 expertise is expected to influence how technologies are assessed, prioritised and deployed across different vessel types.
Drydocks World enters the consortium at a time when MERC is broadening its research and development programmes. These include deeper technical studies into emerging energy efficiency technologies, practical pathways for integrating more complex systems on existing vessels, and expanded work across hydrodynamic performance, wind-assisted propulsion, alternative auxiliary power solutions and data-driven operational optimisation.
Nikos Kakalis, MERC MD, said: “Drydocks World’s involvement provides an essential layer of applied engineering experience that complements MERC’s technical and analytical work. The organisation brings the kind of practical insight that is only gained through decades of delivering major retrofit projects. This expertise will help us understand not only what is technically possible, but what can be delivered efficiently and safely in a real shipyard environment. That combination of deep engineering knowledge and hands-on experience will help MERC ensure that emerging technologies can be installed safely, efficiently and in a commercially viable way.”
Capt Rado Antolovic, CEO Drydocks World, added: “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.”
Image: Drydocks World shipyard (source: LR MERC)
