Research, Development and Innovation
More than 75 years of experience and research place SSPA at the forefront of maritime research, development and innovation (RDI). SSPA lead and participate in projects and our staff combine consulting work with research to suit the maritime industry’s need for RDI. For our full-time researchers, the focus is on research projects and method development, including Ph.D. studies in some cases.
SSPA collaborates with universities, research organisations and industry and has a well-established scientific network. We initiate and lead EC-funded and national research projects. Special attention is given to international research cooperation such as the EU Horizon 2020 programme.
SSPA has expertise in many maritime areas. Our RDI activities include the following:
- Development of new methods and techniques
- Innovation implementation
- Knowledge development
- Scientific networking
- Support of business development
Developing innovative waterway solutions
SSPA are working with projects on the development of innovative logistics solutions and energy efficient vessel concepts for increased use of sea transportation in general and inland waterway transportation in particular. Within this area, SSPA has a large role in two large collaborative Interreg projects, NÖKS II and IWTS - Inland Waterway Transport Solutions.
MaRINET2, providing support
The Marine Renewables Infrastructure Network is composed of 39 organisations who collaborate to progress offshore renewable energy technologies in Europe. It aims to accelerate the development of wave, tidal and offshore wind energy technologies and infrastructure by opening up access to 57 test facilities. The project is now in its second iteration, and it is supported by the EU’s Horizon 2020 programme. The second call for proposals opened on 15 January.
New study - Logistic consequences of the Gothenburg container port conflict
The conflict in APM Terminals in Port of Gothenburg has led to a large reduction in volumes handled in the port. SSPA and the University of Gothenburg will jointly investigate the consequences of the conflict from a national perspective.
Seakeeping, fw-factor and combined CFD/EFD methods hot topics at ITTC
ITTC has an important role as a cooperation platform for all towing tank organizations. It gives SSPA, as an active member, an opportunity to influence the worldwide shipping community. At the ITTC’s 28th full conference, the Seakeeping Committee presented a recommended procedure for determining fw, that is largely based on work by our experts. A new Specialist Committee on Combined CFD/EFD methods was decided. The chairman is one of SSPA’s experts.
Dynamic design of ships
There is a big potential in optimising the construction of ships by reducing weight and steel. Transports can become more energy efficient and reduce the environmental impact at sea. To find out more, a pre-study was conducted in 2016 and now a collaboration is established. SSPA together with Chalmers, KTH and Stena Teknik will conduct research on methods for dynamic ship dimensioning and the understanding of dynamic loads on ships will be able to enhance. Stena's concept vessel Stena Elektra is chosen as a model vessel.
Joint Operation for Ultra Low Emission Shipping
The EU-funded JOULES project recently presented its final results at a conference in Hamburg. SSPA was a partner in the four-year project, which developed simulation and assessment tools that were used to develop ship designs for two future scenarios (2025 and 2050), with significant reductions of energy consumption and emissions of greenhouse gases and other air pollutants.
Virtual Captive Tests on NuTTS 2017
The 20th Numerical Towing Tank Symposium (NuTTS 2017) successfully ended on 3 October in Wageningen, the Netherlands. This two-day’s symposium attracts experts, researchers and young Ph.D. students all over the world to meet together to disseminate the latest results, work in progress as well as encountered challenges. Two experts from SSPA participated with their knowledge on hydrodynamics and the new tool Virtual Captive Tests (VCT).
Increase port efficiency by using Value stream mapping
Port operators are experiencing pressure to improve operational efficiency and reduce costs. One option could be to implement Lean Production concepts and thereby working with continuous improvements. In a collaboration between SSPA and Chalmers, Value Stream Mapping was applied to four different seaport container terminals of varying sizes.
New paper - Sailing, aerodynamics in waves
Prediction and analysis of added hydrodynamic resistance in waves is an established research topic, with several accepted methods, but the study of sail aerodynamics in waves is an open research area. SSPA and Chalmers are cooperating in the Sports & Technology initiative, with several research projects in sailing. The leading journal Ocean Engineering has recently published a paper titled “CFD prediction of steady and unsteady upwind sail aerodynamics”.
To facilitate research test infrastructures for actors in offshore renewable energy
The MaRINET2 program has recently been launched and SSPA is a partner. The aim of the project is to facilitate research test infrastructures for actors in offshore renewable energy, free of charge. The European Commission Horizon 2020 program supports and finances the project that runs from 2017 to 2021.
The worlds’ largest maritime test? Validation of the STM concept begins
STM is an initiative to establish standardised information sharing with open interfaces. Now the time has come to validate the concept on 300 ships and in 13 ports, testing real-time information sharing to authorized parties in the maritime transport chain. A large part of the work relies on AIS data processed with the SSPA EGAC.
GreenPilot project shares results
The GreenPilot project has converted a pilot boat to methanol operation to show how a methanol conversion of a smaller vessel can be carried out in practice and to demonstrate the emissions reductions that can be achieved. The project and the partners are ready to share their latest results at the Nor-Shipping exhibition in Norway, and a seminar will be held in Sweden in June. SSPA is committed to developing sustainable solutions for shipping and we have dedicated experts as part of the project team.