Drydocks World has become the latest member of the Maritime Emissions Reduction Centre (MERC), strengthening the consortium’s technical expertise and collaborative capacity in advancing lower-carbon shipping solutions.
MERC, co-founded by the Lloyd’s Register Maritime Decarbonisation Hub and leading shipowners including Capital Group, Navios Maritime Partners, Neda Maritime Agency, Star Bulk, and Thenamaris (Ships Management) Inc., focuses on practical decarbonisation strategies, emissions reduction technologies and industry-wide collaboration to accelerate the maritime sector’s transition towards sustainable operations.
Drydocks World, recognised for its expertise in complex ship repair and retrofit projects, will bring hands-on engineering experience to MERC’s initiatives. The company has extensive experience integrating advanced technologies on operating vessels, a capability that is increasingly critical as shipyards become central to deploying energy efficiency systems. MERC officials expect Drydocks World’s insights to inform how technologies are assessed, prioritised and implemented across different vessel types.
Nikos Kakalis, MERC Managing Director, said: “Drydocks World’s involvement provides an essential layer of applied engineering experience that complements MERC’s technical and analytical work. The organisation brings practical insight gained through decades of major retrofit projects. This expertise will help us understand not only what is technically possible, but what can be delivered efficiently and safely in a real shipyard environment. That combination of deep engineering knowledge and hands-on experience will help MERC ensure that emerging technologies can be installed safely, efficiently and commercially viably.”
The partnership comes amid growing R&D efforts within MERC, including studies on emerging efficiency technologies, integration of advanced systems on existing vessels, and expanded work in hydrodynamics, wind-assisted propulsion, auxiliary power alternatives, and data-driven operational optimisation.
Captain Rado Antolovic, PhD, CEO of Drydocks World, said: “Joining MERC allows us to contribute our engineering and retrofit experience to a collaborative effort focused on solutions the industry can implement. Decarbonising the existing fleet requires practical, evidence-based approaches, and we see real value in working alongside MERC’s partners to shape technologies and integration strategies that work across different vessel types.”
As a Centre Member, Drydocks World will provide yard-level insight to ensure decarbonisation solutions are technically feasible, scalable, and deliverable within operational and drydocking constraints, while aligning retrofit and conversion capabilities with evolving regulatory and shipowner requirements, particularly in Europe.
Drydocks World joins MERC to boost maritime decarbonisation
