When the time margins decrease and the transport system is tuned for greater efficiency, new opportunities arise, but also new risks that need to be investigated and managed.

As part of the attempts to reduce the climate footprint of waterborne transport and the handling of goods in port, more and more attempts are being made around JIT calls. Tanker and bulk carriers often experience unplanned waiting time – when the vessel is at anchor outside the port, when maneuvering to and from the berth and while moored for loading and unloading (Poulsen & Sampson, 2020). There are several reasons why such delays occur, such as waiting for pilots, port opening hours, waiting for goods, traffic jams and weather conditions (Johnson & Styhre, 2015). The purpose of JIT is twofold. Firstly, the ships must be able to adjust their speed on the way to the destination and reduce fuel consumption. On the one hand, it should make the logistics chain faster and minimize the waiting time before the ship can load or unload, something that could also reduce emissions and environmental risks in coastal environments. Although many barriers to JIT have been identified (Dewan et al., 2018; Poulsen & Sampson, 2019), the concept has been adopted by the International Maritime Organization (IMO, 2018, 2020) and examples of implementations can be found both in the ports of Gävle and Finnish Rauma ( de Andres Gonzalez et al., 2021). The majority of existing research on JIT treats delays as "unproductive time in port" (Johnson & Styhre, 2015) where everyone has something to gain by minimizing waiting time. But is the time caused by delays at the port really unproductive for everyone?

The project highlights a major change in the industry and monitors the consequences of JIT for those working on board, an area where research to date is very limited. By engaging shipping companies with mixed experience of JIT, the project contributes to the exchange of experience as well as increased knowledge in the industry. The results from the project are shared in a way that is easily accessible and practically useful for shipping companies and their crews in the development of the ships' work environment work.

The project examines the consequences of streamlined logistics chains in shipping, especially just-in-time calls, on the crew's well-being and working conditions. The aim is to nuance the debate about just-in-time and to feed the conversation between shipowners, crews and their representatives. The goal is for the results from the project to be concrete enough to communicate to the industry in an information publication.

The aim of this project was to be able to establish a more long-term collaboration across Nordic countries that can support an effective energy transition by sharing experiences between countries and thus maintain the Nordic region's leading position in the field. As a starting point, there is a need for increased understanding of current barriers and opportunities.

A conference was organised in Gothenburg on November 19^th (2024), followed by a smaller workshop with the aim of identifying more long-term strategies for co-operation on the energy transition of fisheries in the Nordic region. More information on the event is found below, and a short working paper summarizing overall project findings can be found here. 

Objectives 

The main objective of WECHULL+ is to demonstrate (TRL4-6) a new, sustainable, circular and reliable concrete material suitable for floating substructures in the offshore renewable energy sector; to model, test and validate it in the real ocean environment. WECHULL+ objectives and activities are based upon the learnings and proof-of-concept (TRL4) of a new sustainable concrete mix with high-performance in marine environment, carried out within the WECHULL project (TRL4). WECHULL+ takes these efforts to a European level, where experts in the field of material sciences, predictive modelling, field testing, critical loads assessment, biofouling, technology development, extreme load analysis, social sciences and environmental impact assessment, are brought together to validate and verify the WECHULL+ concrete material and its real application through sample ant prototype testing (lab and ocean).

Challenges addressed

The traditionally used steel is expensive and prone to corrosion in the harsh marine environment. Composites price are even higher than steel, are fossil-fuel based, their manufacturing is characterized with high environmental impacts and they still lack data on long-term performance in sea water. Therefore, the blue energy sector is currently looking into concrete. Concrete is an inexpensive (in the range of 100 EUR/ton – 30 times lower than steel and 50 times lower than carbon fibre reinforced composites), marine environment resistant, and easy and fast to fabricate on-site (casting) rather than the traditional alternative to traditional manufacturing material. Concrete, the most used material in the world after water, is also a material with a mature value chain which enables using local production worldwide. This is a particular advantage for Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) installations, often planned in specific sites due to favourable ocean conditions, far from the main supply chains, or being close to islands without connections to the continental energy network. 

Despite its long history, concrete technology is still active and growing area of research and industry. The continuous progress is created by designing new mixes, replacing binders and aggregates with alternative ingredients and/or adding dedicated chemical modifiers. Also, concrete is responsible of 6% of all the CO₂ footprint worldwide. The main contributor to CO₂ of concrete is cement. By using climate-optimized concrete material (including waste and recycled materials as well as alternative bio binders) can greatly reduce concrete CO₂ footprint on the material level. 

Results and impact expected 

The expected outcome of WECHULL+ material development is to design a set of mixes based on local raw materials, improve circularity of the material and confirm its reliability in different climate zones in Europe. The WECHULL+ material and modelling solutions will be possible to apply in all types of floating substructures for offshore renewables energies but also for other users such as and aquaculture. The high-strength concrete achieves 70 % of its final strength after 24 hours, which enables demoulding and towing to the installation site almost immediately after manufacturing. Maintenance of WECs contributes to up to 30 % of OPEX and therefore, is one of the largest factors to reduce LCOE. The WECHULL+ project supports the offshore renewable energy transition by supplying the industry with: 

• New robust (>100 MPa in compressive strength, self-damping, noncorrosive and antifouling properties) and 
• Sustainable materials with 70% less carbon footprint then steel 
• Lower the manufacturing time to be below 5 days 
• Supports local manufacturing and local supply chains
• Lower the overall LCOE by 25%

Project website

www.wechull.se

Green hydrogen is seen as crucial element for the sustainable energy transition in the maritime industry. However, hydrogen's high energy density per weight-unit and poor energy density per volume-unit present challenges for operational range, bunkering, and onboard storage. These limitations constitute a problem when it comes to large scale applications of hydrogen. Especially seen to the bunkering for larger ships which both have a demand for large volumes and swift filling times (for example a passenger ferry with a fixed schedule). If hydrogen is filled at high flowrate, the temperate within the storage-tanks increases to an extent that threaten compromise cylinder material and cause a rupture.

To overcome this, a concept has been developed by KTH in a previous project where cooling takes place onboard using seawater in a heat-exchanging system inside the cylinder/storage tanks, preventing temperature rise beyond the allowed limit. If proven viable, this unique cylinder design could revolutionize maritime hydrogen applications by enabling fast-filling of large volumes.

The project aims to validate and analyse this new cylinder design by manufacturing prototypes equipped with heat exchangers and conducting performance tests. The goal is to reach a maturity level of TRL 4 (Technology Readiness Level 4) by the project's end, demonstrating the technology's ability to allow desired filling flow rates without critical temperature levels and explosion risks. This project has the potential to significantly contribute to the safe and efficient large-scale hydrogen filling in the maritime industry.

The project is financed via the Swedish Transport Administration.

DREAMIT 2.0 kommer att undersöka hur effektiv accesshantering kan minska turnaround-tiderna för lastbilar och tåg i hamnterminaler genom ett automatiserat utbyte av relevant information. Projektet kommer även att vidareutveckla automatisk informationsdelning, ta fram affärsmodeller, samt mäta och utvärdera de ramverks som har implementerats i det tidigare projektet DREAMIT men som ännu inte blivit mätta och utvärderade.

Dåligt informationsutbyte i dagens intermodala transportsystem innebär höga kostnader, långa köer och väntetider och negativ miljöpåverkan vid lossning och lastning av containrar i hamnterminaler. När lastbilar och tåg anländer till hamnterminaler har de inte tillgång till rätt containrar vid rätt tidpunkter. Detta beror på att lastbilar anländer oanmälda till hamnterminaler vilket medför att terminaloperatörerna inte kan förbereda deras ankomster. Tågen följer förbestämda tidsscheman men kan inte vid förseningar informera hamnterminalerna om ny ankomsttid. Syftet med DREAMIT 2.0 är att undersöka hur effektiv accesshantering kan minska turnaround-tiderna för lastbilar och tåg i hamnterminaler genom ett automatiserat utbyte av relevant information.

Forskningsfrågor

1. Utveckling: Hur kan relevant information utbytas automatiskt mellan fordon och terminal, så den inte upplevs som stressande för chaufförer?
a. Hur ser en sådan design av en tjänst ut och hur kan den implementeras?
b. Hur kan man skala upp en sådan lösning till en molnbaserad tjänst?

2.  Affärsmodeller: Hur ser affärsmodellerna ut vid effektiv accesshantering?

3. Mätning och effekter:
a. Vilka effekter har accesshanteringstjänsten ”automated gate services” på turnaround-tiden för lastbilar?
b. Vilka effekter har utbytet av relevant information (en vecka före, en dag före och två timmar före ankomst av lastbilar och tåg) på turnaround-tiderna för lastbilar och tåg?

Specifically, this project will study if traditional low-pressure carbon dioxide fire suppression systems are adequate for supressing battery fires in cargo spaces of vehicle carriers. To achieve this goal, this project will involve approaches including (i) literature study, (ii) battery cell-level experiments (iii) small- and large-scale carbon dioxide fire suppression experiments, (iv) multi-physics simulations and (v) reference group meetings and open webinar and co-author of peer-reviewed articles.

In the short term, this project will lead to increased knowledge of lithium-ion battery fires and mitigation strategies at sea. This project will deliver fact-based evaluation about effectiveness of carbon dioxide fire suppression systems for ship owners, crew, battery and vehicle producers, fire protection system suppliers, marine insurance companies, and so on.

In the long term, this project will lead to increased safety of marine vehicle carriers transporting lithium-ion battery driven vehicles and assist in achieving climate goals globally.
The project will be led and carried out by RISE with in-kind support from the industrial partners in forms of donation of battery cells, modules and packs and vehicles for tests and work hours for participation in project meetings and review of report and articles. Moreover, bilateral dialogue with stakeholders will be conducted in this project in forms of regular reference group meetings, open workshops, and co-authoring peer-reviewed articles.

The project result will give input to International maritime Organization (IMO) for harmonization of gas-extinguishing systems in cargo spaces on vehicle carriers.

Publications within the project: 

• Literature study: The performance of carbon dioxide systems on ro-ro vehicle carriers which was also presented at the FIVE Conference - Proceedings from the Eight International Conference on Fires in Vehicles. 
• Abstract for EVS38 Conference: Simulation of Thermal Propagation in a Large Battery Module 
• Presentation and proceeding: “Simulation of Thermal Propagation in a Large Battery Module,” at EVS38 International Electric Vehicle Symposium and Exhibition
• Journal article: Huang & Karlsson (2026) — CFD Analysis of Li-Ion Battery Jet Fires in CO₂-Enriched Environments (submitted to Fire Technology)