Aurelia design
AURELIA: Pioneering the Future of Zero-Emission Shipping
The maritime industry stands at a defining moment. As global pressure intensifies to decarbonize one of the world’s most energy-intensive sectors, the need for bold and forward-thinking engineering has never been greater. AURELIA is answering that call and leading the way.
The spark behind AURELIA can be traced back to the 2017 Maritime Convention of Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers (SNAME). During the event, Raffaele Frontera was struck by the exceptional talent of the student team that had won the Dr. James A. Lisnyk Student Ship Design Competition for the third consecutive year. Their ability to combine technical excellence with visionary thinking revealed something powerful: the future of ship design would belong to those willing to rethink fundamentals. That moment became a catalyst for building a company that would translate bold engineering ambition into real-world maritime solutions.
Founded in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, AURELIA was built on a clear conviction: sustainability is no longer a distant ambition. It is an urgent and decisive step for shipowners who want to remain economically viable while contributing to a cleaner future. What sets AURELIA apart is its integrated approach, built on three complementary pillars.
Design forms the foundation. AURELIA’s team of naval architects works closely with shipbuilders and suppliers to develop tailored green solutions for both newbuilds and retrofits. Rather than offering standardized answers, the team takes time to understand each shipowner’s ambitions, operational profile, and investment horizon. The result is propulsion and energy solutions that are commercially feasible as well as environmentally responsible. AURELIA supports projects from initial concept through engineering, documentation, and ultimately class and flag approval.
Clean Sailing is where AURELIA’s vision is proven in practice. Through real-world initiatives such as Penelope, a dedicated sailing lab vessel, AURELIA provides a de-risking platform for emerging green technologies. Clean Sailing demonstrates that emission-free maritime operations are not theoretical. They are achievable today. For investors, cargo owners, and technology partners, it offers tangible proof that innovation and implementation can move forward together.
Green Tech completes the ecosystem. Each year, new fuels, energy storage systems, and optimization technologies are developed. Yet translating these innovations into commercially viable, class-approved maritime applications remains complex. AURELIA bridges that gap. Acting as the link between technology developers, shipowners, and classification societies, the company provides the engineering frameworks, documentation, and approval strategies required to bring new technologies from the lab to operational vessels. This expertise was recently recognized with the RINA Marintec 2025 Hydrogen Innovation Award for integrating hydrogen blending systems into existing ships.
Within the GAMMA project, AURELIA serves as technical coordinator and lead design engineer. Drawing on all three pillars, the company is developing the retrofit strategy for a 60,000-tonne bulk carrier. The project integrates ammonia crackers, green methanol reformers, hydrogen fuel cells, and solar panels into an operational vessel without compromising performance or safety. In GAMMA, AURELIA is not merely a contributor. It is the engineering backbone that translates shared ambition into a scalable, real-world blueprint for zero-emission shipping.