The _Skills 4 Future Maritime Fuels_ project is a collaborative initiative designed to accelerate maritime decarbonization by addressing critical workforce skills gaps in alternative fuel adoption. Led by maritime training specialists and supported by industry and academic partners, this program will develop and deliver comprehensive training solutions for seafarers, port personnel, and fuel supply chain operators. **Objectives** The project aims to: 1. Identify current and future skills requirements for handling low- and zero-carbon fuels 2. Develop standardized, competency-based training aligned with international regulations 3. Create accessible pathways for maritime professionals to transition to clean fuel operations 4. Quantify the economic and environmental benefits of workforce development **Approach** The consortium will conduct detailed skills gap analysis across the maritime value chain, engaging operators, ports, and training providers. Using these insights, we will co-design modular training programs with industry stakeholders, ensuring content meets real-world operational needs. The curriculum will cover fuel properties, safety protocols, bunkering procedures, and emissions management, with specialized pathways for different roles. **Innovation** This project innovates by: * Integrating training across vessel operations, port logistics, and fuel supply - sectors traditionally addressed separately * Incorporating latest regulatory requirements and safety standards from development stages * Combining digital learning platforms with practical competency assessments * Providing clear progression routes from basic awareness to advanced operational expertise **Outputs** The project will deliver: * A UK skills map and gap analysis report * Accredited training modules for multiple maritime roles * Implementation guidelines for training providers * An economic impact assessment framework **Partnership** The consortium brings together maritime training experts, industry operators, port authorities, and academic researchers. This collaboration ensures the training reflects operational realities while maintaining rigorous standards. **Impact** By equipping the workforce with necessary skills, the project will support safer, more efficient adoption of alternative fuels. This contributes to reduced greenhouse gas emissions and improved air quality in port communities, while maintaining the UK's competitiveness in maritime services. The 7-month project will engage over 100 maritime professionals in pilot testing, with materials designed for easy adaptation to evolving technologies and regulations. All outputs will be made available to support the sector's transition to clean energy.

This project focuses on the Dover--Calais--Dunkirk route, the shortest and busiest ferry corridor between the UK and mainland Europe. Dover alone handles 59% of all UK-EU ferry movements, making it a vital link for trade, travel, and national resilience. At the same time, the Short Straits generate approximately 1.1 million tonnes of carbon emissions annually---around 8% of the UK's total maritime emissions. Reducing this footprint is essential not only for meeting the UK's decarbonisation goals but also for responding to growing pressure from international regulations and customer expectations. Over the next decade, an estimated £1.2 billion in investment will be needed to support the transition to low-emission ferry operations across this key route. As international ferry operators, ports, and infrastructure providers move toward a net-zero future, this project examines how shoreside electricity and vessel electrification can be realistically and effectively implemented. The EIF consortium will develop an advanced modelling tool that brings together multiple components of the ferry ecosystem. This includes vessel design, shoreside infrastructure, port-side energy systems, and operational planning. The model will assess the technical, economic, and logistical implications of transitioning to electric and hybrid vessels, both while sailing and during turnaround at port. The project is a collaboration between academia and industry. The University of Kent and WMG (University of Warwick) will lead on strategic and technical modelling, DFDS---one of the largest ferry operators in Europe---will provide real-world operational insight, and AVL will contribute expertise in complex systems integration. OPINTESL will oversee overall project management. This initiative builds on several previous successful collaborations that explored electric ferry deployment and green energy opportunities along the Short Straits. It represents the next step toward establishing a "green corridor" for ferry transport---an operational model that can be replicated across other routes and ports in the UK and beyond. Beyond its environmental goals, the project will also contribute to regional economic development. It aims to secure and grow highly skilled jobs, support a resilient supply chain, and ensure the UK remains a leader in clean maritime innovation. By addressing both strategic and operational challenges, the project supports a future where clean, reliable, and cost-effective ferry transport strengthens the UK's trade links while helping meet climate targets.

**The NI/GB Green Shipping Corridor Project** This project sets out to investigate the feasibility of establishing an 'NI/GB Green Shipping Corridor' between Northern Ireland (Larne) and the North West of England (Liverpool, Fleetwood or Heysham) using a ro-ro freight ferry design optimised for the carriage of unaccompanied trailers and powered by hydrogen reformed onboard from green methanol delivered in road mobile ISO tank containers. The green methanol would be synthesised in the Port of Larne from green H2 and CO2 as part of the Ballylumford Power-to-X Project, see description below. The main innovation in the project is to capture CO2 from the onboard reformer and return it to the methanol synthesis plant in the same tank containers that delivered the methanol, thereby setting up a circular CO2 economy that avoids the inevitable future supply constraint of green CO2\. The port based flexible green methanol plant will use otherwise curtailed wind power to drive a PEM electrolyser that feeds green hydrogen to a catalytic reactor. The NI/GB Green Shipping Corridor would have 'true-zero' emissions, would not be reliant upon limited supplies of bio derived CO2 or direct air captured CO2 and would not need any carbon offsetting to meet net zero objectives. The BEIS funded, 'Ballylumford Power-to-X Project' concluded that the largest and fastest route to market for green hydrogen in Northern Ireland is currently e-methanol synthesis for supply as a fossil fuel substitute in the ro-ro freight ferry sector. The proposed 150MWe electrolyser installation would provide sufficient controllable electrical load to balance a significant portion of the chronic and acute curtailment of windfarms being experienced in NI today and at the same time provide sufficient green hydrogen, carried in the form of e-methanol, to serve the needs of up to six zero emission ro-ro freight ferries operating on the NI/GB Green Shipping Corridor. The flexible green e-methanol plant can ramp production up and down to suit the H2 supply which in turn is variable according to wind speed. This avoids the need to store H2 and so reduces overall cost. The same e-methanol plant can also supply renewable liquid fuel (M100) to the HGV truck sector so that end-to-end logistics chains can be operated with net zero emission performance. Lead company B9 Energy Storage is joined by DFDS Seaways Immingham, DFDS Logistics, JG Maritime Solutions, Mutual Energy, Larne Harbour and Net Zero Industry Innovation Centre at Teesside University.