Greener maritime equipment key to industry's future, experts say

Technological innovation is key to driving the green, high-end and intelligent transformation of maritime equipment, using new quality productive forces to promote the high-quality development of the maritime economy, experts and industry insiders said during a recent conference in Fuzhou, Fujian province.

"Green and intelligent maritime equipment will provide significant support for the future maritime industry, helping the low-carbon transformation of the global maritime energy sector," said Yu Qing, deputy director of the Marine Technology Innovation Center-Yangtze Delta.

He added that the green and intelligent development of maritime vessels and offshore engineering is the key solution to the challenges of "high emissions and high energy consumption". It is also a strategic choice for the low-carbon and sustainable development of the global maritime economy.

Yu made the remarks at the World Maritime Equipment Conference 2025, which was themed "Setting Sail Towards Green Development". The event was held from Oct 16 to 19.

Liu Feng, chairman of Fujian Baofan New Energy Technology, echoed Yu's views, adding that traditional vessels, which primarily rely on diesel engines for power, contribute significantly to maritime pollution.

"Electric vessels are still in their initial stage of development and face challenges such as high costs, short endurance, slow charging times, low cargo capacity and insufficient deployment of offshore charging infrastructure," Liu said, adding that tackling these bottleneck problems is essential to improving the public's willingness to adopt them.

Liu highlighted the company's self-developed methanol-lithium battery hybrid fishing vessel. It uses the battery pack for port entry, exit and low-speed navigation, while the methanol generator powers high-speed navigation and charges the batteries. The eco-friendly vessel features low construction costs, high efficiency, rapid energy replenishment, eliminating charging anxiety and offering lower operating costs than traditional fuel-powered ships.

Lou Luobing is the business director of the Greater China and Vietnam regional branch of RINA, an Italian company. He stressed the importance of international cooperation in the decarbonization and intelligent upgrading of global shipping systems, describing it as "an accelerator" and "an indispensable core force".

"The green and intelligent transformation of maritime equipment involves multiple complex fields, including new energy, digital twins and intelligent operation. No country can lead in all these areas alone, but international cooperation enables technological complementarity and resource integration," he said.

Lou highlighted the reciprocal strengths of China and Italy — China's manufacturing capacity and "dual carbon" policies, and Italy's expertise in high-end technology, standards and new energy reserves.

He also mentioned a cooperation project between RINA and a Chinese enterprise established early this year. The project aims to develop technological solutions to address material challenges encountered during the storage and transportation of new green energy carriers, such as hydrogen and ammonia.

Lin Jian, a member of the European Academy of Sciences and head of the Southern University of Science and Technology's Advanced Institute for Ocean Research, emphasized the importance of deep-sea engineering, adding that it is comparable to space engineering.

Lin pointed out the vast opportunities for industrial development in deep-sea exploration equipment, including unmanned aerial vehicles, unmanned surface vessels and unmanned underwater vehicles.

"To build and strengthen 'Maritime Fujian' (the province's maritime sector) on a larger and stronger scale, it is essential to develop maritime manufacturing industries that are internationally leading," he said.

The intelligent unmanned vessel products, developed by Zhuhai Yunzhou Intelligence Technology, have been sold to more than 50 countries and regions, including the United States, the United Kingdom, France, the United Arab Emirates and Malaysia.

These products have overcome core technologies such as autonomous navigation, perception and obstacle avoidance, and cooperative control, reaching an internationally leading level, said Liang Jianhui, the company's senior marketing director.