VENTuRE attends the 2nd International Conference on Ship and Marine Technology (GMO-SHIPMAR 2021)

The VENTuRE team members from the University of Strathclyde, Dr Yigit Demirel, Dr Soonseok Song, and Mr Roberto Ravenna, the University of Genoa, Prof. Massimo Figari, University of Malta, Prof. Claire De Marco, Prof. Tonio Sant, Dr Mitchell Borg, and Ms Diane Scicluna, attended GMO-SHIPMAR 2021 – 2nd International Congress on Ship and Marine Technology – held via a virtual conference from the 16th to 17th September 2021. The conference covered various engineering topics related to ship and maritime research, including:

  • Green & Sustainable Maritime;
  • Offshore Technologies;
  • Marine Design and Safety;
  • Safety and Risk Management;
  • Human Factor Engineering;
  • Ship Resistance;
  • Alternative Fuels;
  • Marine Renewable Energy;
  • Offshore Wind Energy;
  • Ocean Energy;
  • Energy Efficiency;
  • Decommissioning and Recycling;
  • Underwater Technology and Acoustics;
  • Drag Reduction & Energy Saving Technologies;
  • Fouling/Coating Hydrodynamics;
  • Ship Stability;
  • Advanced Materials;
  • Marine Structures;
  • Fluid and Structure Interactions;
  • Propulsion Systems;
  • Noise and Vibration;
  • Bunkering;
  • Arctic Engineering;
  • Marine Electrical Equipment;
  • Small Crafts and Yachts;
  • Multimodal Transportation; and
  • Ship Finance.

Prof. De Marco presented the paper entitled “VENTuRE – a Virtual and physical ExperimeNtal Towing centre for the design of eneRgy Efficient sea-faring vessels – a Horizon 2020 Project”. Abstract: “The VENTuRE (a Virtual and physical ExperimeNtal Towing centre for the design of eneRgy Efficient sea- faring vessels) project promotes intensive academic and industrial knowledge-exchange between l-Universita` ta’ Malta, the University of Strathclyde, l’Università degli studi di Genova, and Naval Architectural Services Ltd. Throughout the three-year EU-funded Horizon 2020 project, an information-based framework shall be established to aid in developing engineering-related numerical and experimental skills for the maritime industry in Malta.”


Dr Soonseok Song submitted the paper entitled “Economic and environmental impacts of antifouling coatings used on the fishing boats in Turkey”. Abstract: “Biofouling on a ship hull increases the ship resistance and, consequently, the fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emission. Inadequate antifouling strategies may waste a significant amount of fuel and thus aggravate the profitability of the fishing boats, while resulting environmental problems. This study aims to investigate the economic and environmental impacts of different antifouling strategies with a focus on the fishing boats in Turkish fishing regions. A time-dependant biofouling growth model and the boundary layer similarity law analysis were adopted to predict the added resistance due to the fouling on the hull with different antifouling strategies. In addition, life-cycle analysis and life-cycle cost analysis were performed to estimate the economic and environmental impacts.”


Mr Roberto Ravenna gave a presentation entitled “CFD analysis of the effect of heterogeneous hull roughness on ship resistance”. Abstract: “Hull roughness increases ship resistance, power, and fuel consumption significantly. Recent studies have demonstrated that Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) can accurately predict the effect of roughness on ship resistance by using a modified wall-function approach. Although hull roughness is often spatially heterogeneous, little research has been carried out on the heterogeneous roughness effect on ship resistance. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the heterogeneous roughness effect on ship resistance using CFD. A series of CFD simulations were conducted on a scaled model of the KRISO Container Ship (KSC) hull. Various surface coverage conditions were considered, including homogeneous (i.e., smooth, and full-rough conditions) and heterogeneous conditions (i.e., different smooth/rough wetted surface ratios). The present findings showed that increased roughness on the fore hull regions has a greater impact on ship resistance than the rough aft-hull regions. The introduction of a so-called roughness impact factor correlated the added resistance of the heterogeneous roughness scenarios to the corresponding rough wetted surface area. Accordingly, the rough fore-hull scenarios presented higher roughness impact factors than the rough aft-hull cases.”


Ms Diane Scicluna presented their paper entitled “A review of offshore wind turbine technologies”. Abstract: “The wind energy industry presents a significant and valuable source of renewable energy, and the demand for renewable energy sources is steadily increasing. Therefore, investing and continuously developing this industry is necessary in order to satisfy these demands. The installed capacity of offshore wind energy has steadily increased over the years. Offshore structures present a number of benefits over onshore structures. This paper reviews the current status of floating offshore wind turbine technology. The development of the current mooring systems used for the floating wind structures as well as the more recent application of single point mooring systems are presented. An overview of existing floating wind turbine prototypes is presented. Finally, knowledge gaps