A summit at the Port of Southampton welcomed hundreds of people to discuss maritime decarbonisation.

The Energy Ventures Accelerator (EVA) event took place as part of the Maritime UK Solent Coastal Powerhouse Summit.

The event at the Port of Southampton featured a panel discussion on 'maritime decarbonisation' led by ABP's business development manager, Lex Hanham.

Maritime minister Mike Kane gave a speech about the government's plans to help the country become a 'clean energy superpower.'

He said: "It’s a pleasure to join the Coastal Powerhouse Summit and come together with leading innovators across the industry so we can drive forward the progress needed to clean up maritime, establish the UK as a clean energy superpower and drive economic growth across the country."

ABP announced its intention to work with green maritime innovators Seabound and STAX Engineering to explore opportunities to capture at-berth emissions while vessels are in port.

The company is currently engaging with key shipping customers looking at technical and economic feasibility with a view to deploying the technology in early 2026.

Alisha Fredriksson, CEO and co-founder of Seabound, said: "Shipping is a notoriously difficult industry to decarbonise, which is why collaborations like this one between ABP, Seabound, and STAX can be so impactful and game-changing.

"While our focus at Seabound has traditionally been to capture carbon onboard ocean-going vessels, we’re also excited to leverage our technology for this new opportunity: capturing carbon from ships while they’re in port.

"By teaming up with ABP to expand deployments of our integrated technology with STAX Engineering at the Port of Southampton, we can offer vessel owners and operators a practical way to reduce emissions—and design a solution that’s scalable port-wide from day one."

The Coastal Powerhouse Summit is Maritime UK Solent’s flagship event, organised in partnership with Associated British Ports (ABP), the UK’s largest port operator, and Carnival UK, a leading cruise company.

The next event in ABP’s EVA calendar will be ABP’s EVA Expo on May 13 at The Royal Institution, which will focus on key successes and learnings from the programme over the past 12 months and its evolution going forward.