Carisbrooke’s innovation record: national win, regional recognition and practical delivery

We are pleased to share that Carisbrooke Shipping’s practical approach to decarbonisation and shipboard innovation has again been recognised, and we are Finalists for Maritime UK Solent 2025 Awards in both Technology Game-Changer and Clean Maritime Innovator categories.

In June 2025 we won prestigious Technology & Innovation Award at the Maritime UK Awards in Dover. This national prize rewards demonstrable, deployable technologies and measurable operational gains. We were also finalists in the Business of the Year category, reflecting the scale and commercial impact of our work.

Regionally, our track record continues. In 2023 we were the Technology Game-Changer winner at the Maritime UK Solent Awards, and locally we were highly commended at the Isle of Wight Chamber Business Awards for Environment & Sustainability in 2024. These honours show the consistency of our work from local tests to national recognition.

What binds these awards together is simple: we test at sea, measure what happens, and roll out what works. Recent examples include:

•  AirWing wind propulsion: We are a consortium partner in a Clean Maritime Demonstration Competition (CMDC) project that secured a £3.7m award to develop, install and sea-trial a 20 m AirWing on a Carisbrooke vessel. The programme has supported local build activity and trials that are now underway.
• Hydrogen auxiliary engine trial: We partner in an Innovate UK–backed demonstration to trial a 50 kW hydrogen auxiliary engine in a containerised skid for upcoming shipboard testing. That project (award activity led by technology partners) aims to validate zero-emission auxiliary power generation and support regulatory pathways for H2 at sea.
• Solar and shore-power trials: We have been running solar cell trials on Vectis vessels and delivered an early cold-ironing (shore power) connection at Antwerp using a temporary quay battery bank, both practical steps to reduce emissions in port and at sea.
• Operational changes and voyage optimisation: Alongside hardware trials, our Fleet Operations and voyage-planning improvements have delivered measurable fuel savings in daily operations. These operational gains matter because they scale fleet-wide in anticipation for newbuilds.

We are grateful to the judges, our colleagues onboard and ashore and our partner organisations who have tested systems alongside our teams. These awards and grants are validation, not the finish line. They accelerate what matters: practical deployment, measurable emissions reductions and stronger UK supply chains for clean maritime technologies.

Our aim is clear: to promote UK Maritime industry by proving solutions that others can adopt. We will continue to test, measure and share what works.