Researchers at the University of Limerick are working on a new European research project called Fibreship that aims to replace the use of steel with composite materials in the construction of large ships. The project is mostly funded by a €9 million grant from the EU's Horizon 2020 programme. Using composite materials can greatly reduce the weight of ships and the consumption of fuel, while greatly increasing the amount of materials that can be recycled. “Europe’s leadership position in the world shipbuilding industry in value terms is based on its commitment to research, technology innovation and the delivery of high value-added products. In fact, Europe continues to classify the largest proportion of all newly constructed civilian and merchant ships in the world. FIBRESHIP stands out as the first initiative to comprehensively introduce FRP in the construction of larger vessels” said Dr. Anthony Comer, lecturer at the School of Engineering at University of Limerick. You can follow the fibreship project on twitter: @fibreship