Drydocks World, the ship repair and retrofit specialist owned by DP World, has joined the Maritime Emissions Reduction Centre (MERC), an Athens-based non-profit consortium focused on practical emissions-reduction solutions.
The consortium was established in 2024 by Lloyd’s Register’s Maritime Decarbonisation Hub and a group of shipowners including Capital Group, Navios Maritime Partners, Neda Maritime Agency, Star Bulk, and Thenamaris.
Nikos Kakalis, managing director of MERC, said: ‘Drydocks World’s involvement provides an essential layer of applied engineering experience that complements MERC’s technical and analytical work. The organisation bring the kind of practical insight that is only gained through decades of delivering major retrofit projects.’
Shipyards are playing an increasingly central role as shipowners explore energy-efficiency upgrades and more complex onboard systems. Technologies such as wind-assisted propulsion, advanced hydrodynamic improvements, alternative auxiliary power solutions and data-driven operational optimisation are becoming more challenging to integrate, particularly on operating vessels with limited downtime.
Capt. Rado Antolovic, 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 decarbonising 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.’
MERC is broadening its research and development programmes to address these challenges, with deeper technical studies into emerging efficiency technologies and more detailed pathways for installing advanced systems across different vessel types.
The addition of Drydocks World is expected to influence how such technologies are assessed, prioritised and ultimately deployed, as retrofit capabilities evolve to meet regulatory and shipowner requirements, particularly within Europe.
