Global Partnership Launches International Maritime Future Technologies Innovation Center

Lloyd’s Register (LR), in collaboration with COSCO Shipping Group, Shanghai Jiao Tong University and the University of Southampton, has established the International Maritime Future Technologies Innovation Center.

The new virtual center aims to advance research and development in low- and zero-carbon maritime technologies, intelligent ship systems and digital innovation.

The center will serve as a global platform for collaboration between industry and academia, supporting the sector’s transition towards a smarter and more sustainable future. It will focus on translating research into practical, scalable solutions for deployment across global fleets.

Led by COSCO Shipping Group, the center will draw on each partner’s specialist strengths in technical standards, alternative fuels, vessel performance, intelligent navigation and digital modeling. Using COSCO Shipping’s extensive operational data and fleet network, it will test and validate new technologies that can deliver practical, real-world decarbonization solutions.

The founding partners have also established a Technical Committee to oversee research direction, ensure the continuity of innovation and align the center's work with the maritime industry’s evolving technical and regulatory needs.

Prior to the center's establishment, LR worked alongside the Shanghai Shipping and Science Research Institute (a branch of COSCO Shipping Group) and Shanghai Jiao Tong University to develop a techno-economic