Initiated by EUROYARDS, BESST aims to achieve a breakthrough in competitiveness, environmentally friendliness and safety of EU built ships. Focusing on passenger ships, ferries and mega-yachts, the results will to a large extend be applicable also to other ships. A holistic life cycle performance assessment on ship level will guide the technical developments on system level, clustered in System Groups. The results will be integrated in 3 virtual show cases (ship concepts) demonstrating technical solutions as well as life cycle impact compared to current designs. Optimization tools will be developed and applied in a cooperative process proving feasibility, adaptability and efficiency to future commercial applications. The estimated overall impact of BESST will result in a reduction of life cycle cost of about 120 M€ per PanMax ship and a reduction of CO2 emissions by 12% per ship and year, just to mention a few key figures. The key areas of technical developments include:

• Space Optimisation and Easy Maintenance
• Improving Payload to Gross Tonnage Ratio
• Cost Efficient Building Processes and Refurbishment
• Improved Energy Efficiency and Reduced Emissions
• Noise and Vibration
• Improved Reliability through Model-Based Design and Condition Monitoring
• Optimization of Logistic Chains
• Improving Safety and Security

The consortium is formed by 8 leading EU shipyards. A global market share of 96% for cruise ships and 31% for ferries ensures the critical mass for applications on EU level. In addition, 20 research institutes and universities, 5 classification societies and 31 ship equipment suppliers (17 of them
SME) are part of the research network of BESST. Close interaction with ship operators will be achieved through a dedicated Advisory Group. A multi-level management structure, based on the experience of the shipyards in previous R&D and commercial projects, will ensure efficient and targeted work of the consortium to ensure the envisaged impact.