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KEI System Ltd. (KEI) and Eco Marine Power (EMP) have announced that they have jointly established the Aquarius Innovation Lab to develop sustainable shipping technologies.

The facility is located in Osaka, Japan, and includes an indoor test centre plus an outdoor area for evaluating the performance of hardware such as solar panels, rigid sails and wind power devices.

The Aquarius Innovation Lab will conduct research and design plus product development activities related to marine renewable energy systems and fuel-saving technologies. Ongoing projects include the development of the Aquarius MRE System and EnergySail, both of which are to be tested at the facility.

The Aquarius Innovation Lab is due to develop and test a wide range of equipment in a multi-vendor environment in order to provide solutions suited to ships ranging from small passenger ferries and tugboats to naval vessels, bulk ore carriers and cruise ships. The facility will also be evaluating and testing equipment from Italy, UK, Canada, Germany, USA and Japan.

Additionally, the Aquarius Innovation Lab will be used to prepare new features for the Aquarius Management & Automation System (Aquarius MAS), which was recently released by EMP, and in the future the lab will support feature upgrades for other EMP and KEI products.

The Aquarius MAS is a performance management, alarm handling & reporting platform that has been developed using the KEI 3240 Data Logger System architecture. A basic Aquarius MAS package is able to monitor fuel consumption, emissions and engine performance. The product is marketed as a cost-effective means by which ship owners can improve vessel efficiency and reduce fuel costs.

Tsukasa Nakagawa, President of KEI System said: "The Aquarius Innovation Lab will allow us to develop with EMP a range of innovative technologies that will reduce fuel consumption on ships and also lower the noxious gas emissions from these vessels."

Greg Atkinson of Eco Marine Power commented: "The establishment of the Aquarius Innovation Lab is another major step forward for Eco Marine Power and strengthens our relationship with KEI System. We look forward to working with KEI in bringing a range of innovative renewable energy and fuel saving solutions to the shipping market."

Starting from mid-December a complete prototype of the Aquarius MRE System including an EnergySail & computer system are due to start the final phase of testing in the lab before sea trials, which are scheduled to commence during 2014.