UK commits £448 million R&D to decarbonise shipping

The Department for Transport intends to fund £448 million of R&D investment for UKSHORE between 2026 and 2030.

• £448 million R&D funding (2026–2030) will support the second phase of UKSHORE to accelerate commercialisation and market readiness of clean maritime technologies; delivery partner: Innovate UK; planned competitions include ZEVI2 (Zero Emission Vessels and Infrastructure) to be launched in 2026 to fund build and commercial trials, CMDC7 to be launched in 2026 with real-world demonstrations concluding in 2030, and two further CMDC rounds to be launched between 2027–2029.
• Background & programme details: Since 2022 UKSHORE has allocated £240 million in R&D funding, funded more than 200 projects, and leveraged over £110 million in direct private investment, supporting over 500 organisations including 250+ SMEs; the Clean Maritime Research Hub will continue work until at least 2028 in collaboration with EPSRC; the programme includes international R&D via Eureka and will work with the National Wealth Fund and British Business Bank to address scale-up barriers (subject to business case approval).