“Eco Innovative Refitting Technologies and Processes for Shipbuilding Industry: Project Overview”

This paper summarizes the key characteristics of the three year duration Collaborative R&D Project named “Eco innovative refitting technologies and processes for shipbuilding industry promoted by European Repair Shipyards”, in short “Eco-REFITEC”, which is being funded from the European Union's RTD 7th Framework. The project started in January 2011 with the purpose of develop and implement Eco-innovative Retrofitting processes and Life Cycle Strategies in Repair Shipyards to Strength European competitiveness of the Shipbuilding Industry and to reduce the environmental footprint of waterborne transport and operations. Within the paper insights are given concerning the so called “sticking points”: The Value Analysis Methodology adopted to develop and identify alternative and eco-innovative ways to perform future retrofitting jobs, the data base of eco-innovation practices, the repair shipyard model and the LCA tool; which will be developed and that will be used as a basis to test both the environmental shipyards and ships performance, and assess the pertinence of eco-innovative solutions.