South-east Asia's first advanced maritime energy test-bed facility will be established in Singapore by 2015.

Set up by the Nanyang Technological University (NTU) and the Singapore Maritime Institute (SMI), the facility within NTU will host research into greener ship and port technologies, including alternative fuels, emissions control and waste heat recovery. For instance, it will have a 1.5 megawatt diesel engine on site which can be modified to run on various fuels.

The $8.1 million centre will welcome scientists and engineers from the shipping industry and institutes across the world to conduct research there. This was announced on Wednesday by SMI chairman Teo Siong Seng at the institute's annual forum. "The establishment (of the facility) will help in the translation of innovative technologies from lab-scale to large-scale application where new technologies will be tested prior to sea trials," he said.

The facility also aims to aid in the training of maritime PhD students and engineers. It had been proposed by NTU's Energy Research Institute and Maritime Institute. The maritime industry contributes about seven per cent to Singapore's GDP each year.