Goal
The Port of Klaipėda, together with 17 partners from various European countries, will collaborate on the development of innovative technologies for the maritime industry.
During the project, long-endurance autonomous surface and underwater vessels powered by hydrogen fuel cells and renewable energy will be developed. These vessels will be designed for marine ecosystem monitoring, port infrastructure inspection, and underwater object research.
As part of port aquatory monitoring, these autonomous vessels will be capable of detecting various irregularities and collecting critical data in real time. The project aims to enhance the efficiency of seabed mapping, infrastructure inspection, and habitat monitoring through the demonstrated robotic vehicles.
The developed and manufactured autonomous vessels will be tested in three key locations:
- The Mediterranean Sea near the Spanish coast,
- The Aegean Sea near Santorini Island,
- The Baltic Sea in Klaipėda Port.
Digital Twin
As part of the MERLIN project, the developed solutions will also be integrated into a digital twin, designed for real-time monitoring of marine ecosystems and port infrastructure.
The digital twin is expected to:
- Simulate and model port activities,
- Optimize port operations to reduce environmental impact and increase efficiency,
- Develop advanced maintenance strategies that enable predictive failure detection using collected data and AI-driven analysis.
The project consortium includes research centers, universities, non-governmental organizations, and industry representatives from the United Kingdom, Belgium, Italy, Greece, Spain, Denmark, Estonia, Cyprus, and Lithuania. The project is led by the University of Birmingham.
Funding
The MERLIN project builds on the results of the previous ENDURUNS project, in which the Port of Klaipėda also participated. However, MERLIN takes the initiative further by aiming to develop fully autonomous navigation and advanced data analysis technologies using artificial intelligence. The technological foundation for autonomous vessels, established during the ENDURUNS project, will be further enhanced within MERLIN.
The MERLIN project is funded under the Horizon Europe research and innovation program, with a total budget of €7.95 million, of which €170,000 has been allocated to the Port of Klaipėda.
The project will run for the next four years.
