Minister for Maritime (): In March 2025, the
Department for Transport (DfT) published the maritime decarbonisation
strategy (MDS), which set out
the pathway for our domestic maritime sector to reach zero
greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 and included policies and
regulations to drive emissions reductions. Research and
development (R&D) is needed to ensure
that clean maritime technologies are available at scale as early
as possible at an affordable price for the sector to adopt.
Supporting UK R&D builds on UK expertise and innovation – a guiding
principle of the MDS.
Since 2022, the UK Shipping
Office for Reducing Emissions (UK SHORE) programme
in the DfT has
allocated £240 million R&D funding to develop
clean maritime technologies. UK SHORE has funded
more than 200 projects, leveraging over £110 million direct
private investment. This funding has benefitted all UK nations and regions, supporting over
500 organisations, including over 250 SMEs. UK SHORE has enabled
the sector to develop electric and efficiency solutions for
various vessel types like ferries, cargo vessels and offshore
wind vessels and progressed zero and near-zero GHGemission solutions such as hydrogen,
ammonia and methanol. Further R&D is required to develop
solutions to maturity and increase commercial viability.
That is why I am pleased to announce we intend to fund £448
million of R&Dinvestment for
UK SHORE between
2026 and 2030. Building on the successes to date, the second
phase of UK SHORE will
further accelerate the technologies necessary to decarbonise the
UK maritime sector and meet
MDS aims
through R&D and
capture economic growth opportunities by cementing the
UK as a place for maritime
innovation. Subject to business case approval, this will unlock
innovation and investment potential in UKtechnologies, in UK businesses, at UK ports and in UK shipyards.
Today, I am providing our proposed outline of the future
UK SHOREprogramme to
allow industry to plan the next 5 years of clean maritime
innovation. In collaboration with Innovate UK as a delivery partner, UKSHORE will:
-
Accelerate the commercialisation of developed technologies,
including through a future round of the Zero Emission Vessels
and Infrastructure competition (ZEVI2) to be launched in
2026. This will fund the build and commercial trial of clean
maritime solutions.
-
Develop emerging technologies through to being ready for
market, including through a seventh round of the Clean
Maritime Demonstration Competition (CMDC7) to be launched in
2026, focusing on real-world demonstration projects
concluding in 2030. This will be followed by 2 more rounds to
be launched between 2027 and 2029.
-
Support early scientific research of novel technologies
through the ongoing work of the Clean Maritime Research Hub
until at least 2028 in collaboration with the Engineering and
Physical Sciences Research Council.
-
Enable development of whole system solutions and penetration
of international markets through international R&D. This includes
participation in the global Eureka research programme to
conduct pre-deployment trials.
-
We will also focus efforts on tackling the barriers to the
scale-up of the technologies and companies supported through
this funding, working with Innovate UK, across government, the National
Wealth Fund and the British Business Bank.
Through supporting UK
businesses to accelerate technologies through to market
readiness, UK SHORE will
advance competitive advantage in clean maritime solutions while
complementing wider UK
strengths in R&D like automotive,
battery systems and hydrogen propulsion. The work to scale-up
UK technologies and penetrate
international markets will strengthen the UKsupply chain, increase exports and
bolster international leadership.
Finally, UK SHORE will aim to
continue investment in each Devolved Administration and all
regions of the UK, supporting
growth in coastal communities and manufacturing heartlands.
