Retrofitting is defined as the installation onboard ships of state-of-the-art or innovative components or systems and could in principle be driven by the need to meet new regulatory standards or by the ship owner interest to upgrade to higher operational standards. Retrofitting should become an established practice in the shipping industry involving the entire value chain and exploring the possibilities that may open to the industry on a continuous basis. To identify worthy retrofitting candidates and select appropriate (green) technologies that can be suitably fitted at minimum cost and lead time, while considering the condition of the particular ship: service profile, remaining life cycle and the governing and expected regulations.

The focus points of the project RETROFIT are:

• Methods to identify ship candidates for retrofitting;
• Methods and tools for simulating the working of various configurations of ship main and auxiliary systems;
• Methods and tools for “reverse engineering” enabling to build product models suitable for the retrofitting process;
• Methods and tools to control ships energy and emission performance: decision support systems for emission control and energy optimization over the entire service profile;
• Design-for-retrofitting methodology based on standardisation and modularisation principles;
• Efficient corresponding yard processes for minimum out-of-business time for retrofitting ships.