VENTuRE: Setting Sail for Maritime Research

Kicked off in January 2020, the VENTuRE project – a Virtual and physical ExperimeNTal Towing centre for the design of energy Efficient sea-faring vessels – set up an extensive period of collaborative endeavours, through workshops, meetings, and conferences within its first six months, in an effort to develop appropriate proficiency in experimentation and numerical analysis for the Maltese maritime industry through knowledge-exchange. 

Funded by the European Commission and coordinated by the University of Malta, in collaboration with the University of Strathclyde, University of Genoa, and Naval Architecture Services Ltd, VENTuRE set into motion the plan for implementation of the project to achieve the designated outputs within the three year project timeframe. After a successful visit, the partners were excited to move forward through the planned arrangements for the coming year.

The COVID-19 pandemic hindered the partners from being in physical contact throughout the first and second quarter of the year 2020. Albeit the challenges put forward, the partners strived to establish means with which the project outcomes may be achieved with little to no diminishment; this situation then presented opportunities to venture into a digital communication framework.

Three distinct research groups directed towards the design of energy-efficient vessels were established, namely:

  • Resistance and Propulsion;
  • Seakeeping and Manoeuvring; and 
  • Combined Computational Fluid Dynamics/ Experimental Fluid Dynamics.

The research groups were formed to further develop the research-related outputs of the universities, together with setting the foundation for future collaborative efforts, specifically in relation to maritime engineering. An online virtual conference was also launched between the member universities, where the invited partner-student speakers presented their research projects in the field of maritime engineering. Additionally, a workshop was held to discuss the design, installation and operation of wave tanks, with a focus on tow testing of model vessels.

This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme.  Project No. 856887. 

More information may be found here.