Advancing Marine Sustainability: Alternative Fuels and Decarbonizing Technologies for a Low-Carbon Future

Dear Colleagues,

The maritime industry is at the forefront of global efforts to transition towards sustainability, aligning with the ambitious international decarbonization targets set by organizations such as the International Maritime Organization (IMO). This transition involves adopting innovative solutions in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and enhance energy efficiency across maritime operations.

Alternative fuels such as ammonia, hydrogen, methanol, and biofuels are particularly noted for their potential ability to replace traditional fossil fuels. However, the high cost, supply chain constraints, and infrastructure requirements associated with alternative fuels remain critical barriers to their widespread adoption. Alongside alternative fuels, advanced decarbonization technologies are paving the way for cleaner shipping. These include waste heat recovery systems, wind-assisted propulsion technologies, battery–electric propulsion, air lubrication systems, cold-ironing, and carbon capture solutions, which all contribute to greater operational efficiency and reduced emissions.

This Special Issue explores the technical and environmental feasibility of these solutions, emphasizing their integration into existing maritime systems. Topics of interest include lifecycle assessments, state-of-the-art applications and prototypes, and the safety considerations associated with these innovative approaches.

This Special Issue aims to present innovative research that advances the maritime industry's journey towards a sustainable, low-carbon future. It addresses both the challenges and opportunities associated with this critical transformation.

• Comprehensive reviews of emerging maritime technologies and their applications.
• Research on alternative fuels and the development of their infrastructure in ports and shipyards.
• Studies on retrofitting and implementing greening technologies for existing fleets.
• Best practices for achieving climate-neutral maritime transport.

In this Special Issue, we welcome the submission of original research articles and reviews whose scope includes, but is not limited to, the following topics:

• Alternative fuels (life cycle analysis, fuel blending strategies, supply chain and logistics, technological advancements on marine vessels, offshore platforms, and shore facilities).
• Cold ironing and shore power supply technologies (energy demand forecasting, regulatory support, the electrification of port operations, renewable energy integration, green shipping corridors).
• Decarbonization technologies (innovative materials, air lubrication systems, fuel cells, batteries, waste heat recovery systems, wind-assisted propulsion).
• Energy efficiency advancement applications (hull, propeller, speed, weather optimisations, energy saving devices, engine power limitation, shaft power limitation, shaft generators, diesel-electric propulsion).
• Safety and risk management of green technologies (handling of fuels or systems, infrastructure requirements).

Prof. Dr. Eduardo Blanco-Davis
Prof. Dr. Jin Wang
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-anonymized peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Journal of Marine Science and Engineering is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.