The signing of the agreement brings one of the world’s leading ship repair and retrofit facilities into the Athens-based non-profit industry collaboration, which was co-established by the Lloyd’s Register Maritime Decarbonization Hub and leading shipowners Capital Group, Navios Maritime Partners, Neda Maritime Agency, Star Bulk and Thenamaris (Ships Management) Inc., with enabling support from Lloyd’s Register.

Drydocks World’s long-standing reputation for delivering complex engineering projects, coupled with its experience in integrating advanced technologies on board operating vessels, will be central to MERC’s next phase of collaborative work. With shipyards playing an increasingly important role in the integration of energy efficiency systems, Drydocks World expertise is expected to influence how technologies are assessed, prioritized, and deployed across different vessel types.

Drydocks World enters the consortium at a time when MERC is broadening its research and development programs. These include deeper technical studies into emerging energy efficiency technologies, practical pathways for integrating more complex systems on existing vessels, and expanded work across hydrodynamic performance, wind-assisted propulsion, alternative auxiliary power solutions and data-driven operational optimization.

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 organization brings the kind of practical insight that is only gained through decades of delivering 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 in a commercially viable way.”

Captain Rado Antolovic, Ph.D., CEO of Drydocks World, said: “Joining MERC allows us to contribute our engineering and retrofit experience to a collaborative effort that is focused on solutions the industry can actually implement. The challenges of decarbonizing the existing fleet require practical, evidence-based approaches, and we see real value in working alongside MERC’s partners to help shape technologies and integration strategies that will work across different vessel types.”