Marine Innovations

Sharrow Marine has been working to disrupt the marine industry with a reimagined propeller it calls the "future of propulsion." That future should come a little faster with the launch of the new MX-A, a more affordable, small outboard-friendly prop.

Lloyd's Register and nuclear startup Core Power are joining forces with shipping company Maersk to study how to update regulations as part of an effort to introduce Gen IV nuclear reactors to power the next generation of zero-carbon-emission cargo ships.

Researchers from Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU) have unveiled a new type of amphibious vehicle that can hover like a drone, take winged flight like a plane, then dive at high speed underwater like nothing else – called the Nezha-SeaDart.

Looking like a set of bridge supports that were accidentally installed on a cargo ship, a new wind-driven system by startup CoFlow Jet promises to reduce ship fuel costs by up to 90% using stationary cylinders with no moving parts.

Vessev, a water-transportation start-up company, has just unveiled its slick, America's-Cup-style hydrofoil, 10-passenger electric ferry called the VS-9. It's being touted as the most accessible electric commercial vessel ever – not to mention efficient and green.

For four years, orcas have been ramming and sinking luxury yachts, and scientists finally have an idea why. No, it's not their anticapitalist 'eat the rich' agenda, nor is it to do with territory and aggression. The truth is, well, it's child's play.

A luxury superyacht is the testbed for green hydrogen technology as the ship, formally known as Project 821, is put in the water at Feadship's Amsterdam base. It's the largest motor yacht ever launched in the Netherlands.

French company Seabike has developed a swimming device that uses your own leg power to accelerate you through the water at superhuman speeds. This crank-driven pusher prop looks a bit like an underwater unicycle... We'd love to take one for a spin!

A newly described species of marine reptile could be the largest to ever swim the world’s oceans. The “giant fish lizard” lived more than 200 million years ago, and may give the blue whale a run for its money, size-wise.

An underwater expedition off the coast of Chile has discovered 160 species not known to live in the region, at least 50 of which are new to science. The information will inform marine protection strategies for important regions in international waters.

An age of greener, more efficient shipping may be in the offing as a specially modified 43,000-tonne bulk freighter completes a six-month sea trial using a combination of diesel engines and a set of high-tech automatic sails to catch the wind.

Sharrow's extraordinary looped propellers were already some 30% more efficient than traditional designs – and now the company has put two of them together into a coaxial, contra-rotating prop that promises to be even more energy-efficient.