SEUS 2024 Report: Advancing the Digital Future of European Shipbuilding

The EU-funded SEUS (Smart European Shipbuilding) project has reached a significant milestone with the publication of its 2024 report. As the consortium moves from conceptual groundwork into active development, early software prototypes are now being tested across pilot shipyards—signalling the start of tangible digital transformation in the maritime design and production chain.

A key pillar within SEUS is the integration of early-stage design models into a broader digital Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) framework. SARC, developer of the PIAS naval architecture software, is leading this work by bridging conceptual naval design with downstream engineering data models. This stage is especially complex due to differing data structures and design focus—functional at the concept level versus geometric and material-specific in production. Recent work has resulted in a dedicated technical paper and the first implementation steps toward data alignment.

SARC’s contributions include several prototype-level innovations within PIAS:

• A modular layout system enabling rapid subdivision of ship compartments based on reusable “chunks,” supporting volume constraints and geometric logic.

• A propulsion and machinery configuration tool that integrates hybrid systems—combining wind propulsion, conventional engines, fuel cells, and electric drives—into a unified simulation environment.

• A research interface connecting PIAS to OpenFoam CFD solvers, allowing external hydrodynamic simulations to be executed from within the early design environment.

• A forthcoming “spatial deformation” tool in the Fairway hull form module, offering large-scale, topology-free hull shaping directly controlled by the user, further optimizing form-finding at early stages.

These developments aim to enable cross-disciplinary data continuity from initial concept to final production, reducing manual rework and allowing earlier validation of design choices—key to SEUS’s ambition of shortening ship delivery times and improving quality.

Beyond early design, SEUS is building an integrated software platform that spans CAE, CAD, CAM, and PDM domains, underpinned by AI, natural language processing, and robust cybersecurity. Together, these efforts lay the groundwork for a digitally mature, more responsive European shipbuilding sector.

The full SEUS 2024 report, detailing these and other developments, is available at:
SEUS 2024 Report (PDF)