Project

Vessel propellers have reduced power efficiency with increased growth of barnacles and fouling, leading to an

increase in fuel consumption as high as 5%. SubBlue Robotics has developed an underwater propeller po-
lishing robot that allows for propeller polishing without the use of divers, and is capable of careful, precisepolishing of curved surfaces. As no divers are in the water, it can polish when the ship is loading and unloading

cargo, thus saving the shipowner valuable idling. Idling is the reason why the propeller polishing is often skip-
ped. The project will give technical robustness to the existing prototype, develop commercial grade components, and test the robot on commercial vessels. Leading partner is SubBlue Robotics, who has worked on

the designs and prototypes since 2016, the MMMI now IME institute at SDU provides knowledge on robots in harsh

enviroments, while shipowners DFDS and Maersk and diving company Odin Diving represent the market de-
mands the robot must meet. Three senior executives from CoGrow have invested in SubBlue Robotics, who

has just secured yet more capital and competences from two more investors.

The shipping industry's plans to replace fossil fuels with green fuels have several well-described climate and environmental benefits, but far less well-studied are the possible environmental risks linked to a large-scale use of green fuels in ships. Sufficient knowledge of the physical and chemical properties, toxicity to the environment, as well as dispersion and degradation dynamics of the green fuels in the environment are therefore fundamental prerequisites for the shipping industry to implement the green transition with minimal risk of simply replacing one problem with another.

In this project, we will carry out the first in-depth mapping and environmental risk assessment of potential derived environmental effects that may arise from both emissions to the atmosphere and discharges to the marine environment from these green marine fuels. The project includes, among other things, a thorough review of the properties of the green fuels in both air and water, experimental studies on the impact on aquatic organisms, natural degradation mechanisms, the spread in both the atmosphere and marine environment during normal operation and in the event of accidents/spills, as well as life cycle assessment (LCA).