June 15 - Heavy lift shipping company, Beluga Shipping has stepped forward as the private enterprise partner supporting the work of the Centre of Maritime Research in Elsfleth which officially opened on June 4. The centre is part of the Elsfleth Maritime

The centre, a public-private initiative, will produce applied research in the field of shipping and ocean technology. Its purpose is to initiate and oversee projects which are conducted in conjunction with maritime institutes, universities, shipyards, shipping lines and private companies.

"Research is the source of new growth - and we need creative specialists to keep ahead on an international level," says Niels Stolberg, Beluga Shipping CEO.

Beluga holds a 51 percent share of the public-private partnership while the other 49 percent is in the hands of the University of Applied Sciences Oldenburg, Wilhelmshaven, Germany.

The 30,000 sq m campus consists of an academic institution, a ship's mechanic centre and a maritime research centre. Topics to be tackled by researchers include ballast water treatment, anti-fouling coatings and innovations increasing ship efficiency.