The global undersea arms race is transforming not just navies but the engineering profession behind them. Workforce, digital capability and nuclear stewardship are now as strategically important as the platforms themselves.

As the climate warms, there’s growing interest in transiting once unnavigable seas. Amy McLellan explores ways to support increased shipping in ice-affected waters.

More than a year after the containership Baltic III grounded on the remote Newfoundland coast during a severe storm, a wreck removal plan is finally in place, but the complex and challenging operation still has years to run, and important questions remain.

Welcome to the latest issue of The Naval Architect. I am honoured to have been elected President of RINA, and I would like to thank members for the confidence and trust you have placed in me. 

Researchers address capability gaps in underwater navigation and perception.

Catriona Savage on the pace of change in her time as RINA president.

Team Nagapasa’s flat-bottomed catamaran ferry won the WFSA’s Maritime Student Design Competition, meeting the constraints of a shallow, hazard-prone river route with a design built for affordability and local construction.

Aker wins contract for CO₂ terminal in Lithuania; and First battery-methanol-powered tug set to sail.

Evangelos Boulougouris on using artificial intelligence in ship design.

A report from Lloyd’s Register, Fuel for Thought: LNG for Cruise, says liquefied natural gas is established as the dominant alternative fuel in the sector by a considerable margin, evidenced by the fact that 30 LNG-fuelled cruiseships of 20,000GT and above are in service and a further 29 are on order. What does that mean for naval architects?

Vessel owners of 10-year-old ships are going through a mid-life crisis. To retrofit or not to retrofit, that is the question? Can investments in energy savings be recovered in these not old, but not new ships.

The digital age is transforming the ship repair industry as online monitoring and digital twins linked to a burgeoning predictive maintenance regime takes hold.

Visibility is becoming increasingly critical as charterers must now calculate Scope 3 emissions from their supply chains. Speed optimisation is helping to reduce the total.

Australia’s first 100% electrically driven passenger ferry, a collaboration between Aus Ships and Volvo Penta, aims to validate scalable electric marine propulsion with the overall aim of decarbonising the country’s waterways.

Can diagonal deflector strakes solve the classic deep-vee compromise? Petestep’s hull technology is promising faster planing, lower slamming loads and efficiency gains across the fast craft market.

Battery specialist Corvus Energy discusses how it is working on large-scale battery integration projects that reshape weight distribution and stability design in high capacity ferries and fast craft.

A new era in offshore power has seen the development of the first Energy Islands off European coasts. The first will be the six-hectare Princess Elisabeth Island, which is under construction 45km off the coast of Belgium and is due to be completed in 2028.

The number of floating LNG projects are increasing fast. Today’s liquefaction capacity is forecast to more than treble from 16 million to 55 million tonnes by 2040.

The first wind turbines to be deployed are reaching the end of their operational life. The question is, should the sites be re-used or retired?

Seawork brings maritime expertise and careers focus to Southampton. The annual event combines international exhibitors with strong Solent connections.