Flagship
FLAGSHIP is a part EU-funded project, focusing on the improvement of safety, environmental friendliness and competitiveness of European maritime transport. The project which is reaching its conclusion on May 31st 2011 has been a considerable success delivering real value for money. It has met its objectives in facilitating an increase in the capacity and reliability of freight and passenger services while enabling a reduction of negative impact from accidents and emissions.
Herman de Meester Project Co-Ordinator for FLAGSHIP and Deputy Secretary General of European Community Shipowners' Association (ECSA) explains why initiatives such as these are so important to the industry and show cases some of the projects greatest achievements.
FLAGSHIP is a rather unique integrated project which distinguishes itself from most other undertakings through its scale, complexity and involvement of a very wide number of partner groups. With input from organisations as diverse as shipowners, shipyards, equipment manufacturers and classifications societies and research institutes the sub-projects run under the FLAGSHIP banner have been able to deliver tangible results that have already added value to the European maritime industry.
The FLAGSHIP project was initiated by a group of institutions involved in maritime research and also in European Union specific projects which saw the need for a more integrated approach to maritime R&D. BMT Group from the UK, MARINTEK from Norway and the European Community Shipowners Associations (ECSA) worked together initially developing the different sub-projects, and soliciting interest from other organisations in the maritime sector. EU funding was eventually secured for a project with emphasis on on-board systems and procedures, ship management systems on shore, impact of new technology on present ship-, owner- and operator organisations, effective and efficient communication interfaces and impact of standards and regulations.
Integrated R&D in the maritime domain is necessary in order to deliver new solutions in the fields of environment, efficiency and safety. Furthermore there is an absolute need for innovation in order to deliver these new solutions in a cost effective and commercially viable way so that the maritime industry in the European Union can stay ahead of its competitors across the world.
It can be argued that the European maritime business sector is already very efficient and has the right processes and culture in place to be innovative while observing all the relevant compliance legislation. But in order to generate major improvement across the sector it is necessary to shake up the status quo. There are some issues that can only be addressed and improvements made if everybody pulls together: It is simply not possible for a simple organisation to generate enough momentum on its own. Bold developments have increased chances of success with the support of more than one company within a sector. Flagship gives the company a possibility to launch new ideas and get it into the discussion in a kind of freer arena than if you did it in a normal competitive way. FLAGSHIP also allows partners to interact in a way that simply wouldnt be possible under the normal, commercial rules of engagement. The level of cooperation required to produce an integrated bridge composed of equipment from different manufacturers could only be generated under the auspices of a project like FLAGSHIP.
Having a diverse group of partners from across the maritime industry is also hugely beneficial in feeding new ideas freely into the project and this particular commercial sector in general. Innovation and exchange of ideas between sectors and markets that would not usually interact is a huge positive for FLAGSHIP and would be impossible to achieve in a forum that promotes open communication and sharing of information without the structure created by the EU. The same is true for the input that FLAGSHIP has achieved from academia. By broadening the academic input from a single university to a pan-European level provides different perspectives on problems while introducing variety, diversity and flexibility.
The EU investment in FLAGSHIP is not a substitute for private enterprise investment in R&D. In fact, the Commission support only represents about 4-5% of the total research funding in the European maritime cluster, mainly at company level. However, maritime is a very competitive business and there are often instances when restrictions on time or money within individual organisations preclude taking on larger and more all-encompassing R&D tasks. This is particularly true with regards to new concepts that investigate new forms of cooperation between parties. Furthermore, the funding acts as an incentive supported by member states to promote cross-border cooperation in research, not only for Maritime but for many other sectors. It stimulates people to work together and that is an important factor.
The sub-projects developed under the FLAGSHIP banner covered a wide range of maritime focused areas including direct safety improvements, decision support to help reduce workload on the bridge, improvements to surveying techniques and efficiency which is directly related to environment and greenhouse gas emissions. Each sub-project is aligned to at least one element of the projects three stated aims, namely; improving the safety, environmental and commercial performance of the European maritime transport industry.
FLAGSHIP certainly encountered significant challenges but thanks to the hard work and diligence of the partners the project has run very smoothly, particularly compared to many other undertakings of this scale. Elements of the research represented significant difficulties, but the Flagship consortium which includes some of the most advanced R&D institutes, end users and industry in the maritime business in Europe, overcame each challenge as it arose. All the partners have been very focused on the overall objectives and have delivered as expected. This is also an indication of the overall perceived importance of the project objectives.
Operationally, with a diverse mix of 49 large and small organisations based across Europe, each with its own organisational and social culture not to mention the diversity of mother tongues organisational issues would always be a challenge. Add to this a project duration of more than six years from initial idea to termination and the inevitable administrative issues of staff churn and movement. Another challenge is the need to forecast which sub-project topics will add value when the project comes to fruition five or six years after its inception. These factors are not insurmountable but added to all the complexity. Six years ago we were aware of the issues associated with emissions but not the same way as we do now.
FLAGSHIP has certainly been a success. All 15 FLAGSHIP sub-projects were established with specific aims and only three of them have not quite delivered what was expected. As this is a research project, a success rate of around50% would have been excellent, considering the cutting edge work that was undertaken. The 80% success rate achieved in practice is testament to the hard work and diligence demonstrated by the partners. As well as meeting the vast majority of the objectives associated with sub-project delivery FLAGSHIP delivered a raft of other benefits. New relationships between partners in the project have been established, a stronger EU platform for further improvement in maritime business and new standards has been developed and important input to IMO legislation has been made. Furthermore we have strengthened European maritime competitiveness as well as raising awareness, knowledge and the interest in maritime business sector.
Another area where FLAGSHIP has been successful is in delivering a research project that is not only deemed to be successful but also has tangible outcomes. One issue with research in the past is that while being very worthy, the results have remained within the academic or R&D communities. All too often, research where the conclusion was that more research had to be done. A direct link to a new product or service with the project has been less evident. The involvement of a number of companies with an industrial foundation from the very start allied with the objective that we should deliver tangible or close-to-marketable outcomes has set a different kind of pace. There are already a number of outcomes that are commercial products which have been sold and installed on board vessels.
Looking to the future, the IMO and the 2050 transport strategy for Europe both target a reduction in greenhouse emissions of 75-80% over the next 39 years. When this is viewed alongside FLAGSHIPs achievements in reducing fuel consumption by 1-5% and reducing greenhouse gases by 2-4%, as well as enhancing engine performance by up to 5% it becomes clear how much more work needs to be done. However it also highlights the importance of research projects like FLAGSHIP which are doing the hard work required to develop solutions that will help address the maritime challenges of the 21st century.
EMEC has had a crucial role to play in this project and via EMECrid, demonstrated its capacity to tackle the future competition challenges and stay at the leading edge of technology.
