By Iyaan Barry, a Pakistani Ocean Engineer from USA
About the Author
Iyaan Barry holds a degree in Ocean Engineering and currently serves as Technical Lead – Hydrodynamics and Controls at Airglide AI. His work focuses on air lubrication systems, a technology that reduces drag on ships by creating a layer of air beneath them.
Introduction
As the world races to combat climate change, Pakistan is emerging as an active participant in the global initiative to reduce carbon emissions. Electric vehicles are appearing on city streets, solar panels dot rooftops from Karachi to Lahore, and wind farms in Sindh are feeding renewable energy into the national grid. This green transition extends beyond land-based solutions, Pakistani innovators are also making contributions to sustainable maritime technology, a sector critical to global trade but notoriously difficult to decarbonize.
Air Lubrication: Reducing Drag in Maritime Shipping
The shipping industry transports over 80% of global trade and remains a major source of greenhouse gas emissions. The International Maritime Organization has set an ambitious target of achieving net-zero emissions by 2050, putting pressure on the industry to find viable solutions. The EU has added to this pressure through its Emissions Trading System (EU ETS), a carbon market where companies must buy permits for each ton of CO2 they emit. Since 2024, maritime shipping has been included in this system, meaning operators now pay directly for their emissions.
Unlike road transport, electrification remains impractical for large vessels, current battery technology simply lacks the energy density required to power ships across oceanic distances. This limitation makes efficiency-focused technologies like air lubrication critical to meeting decarburization goals.
The principle is straightforward: when a ship moves through water, friction between the hull and the surrounding liquid creates drag, forcing engines to burn more fuel. Air lubrication systems introduce a layer of air between the hull and the water. Since air has a viscosity roughly 50 times lower than water, this barrier dramatically reduces frictional resistance.
The Hydrodynamics Challenge
While the concept sounds simple, practical implementation involves complex challenges. Bubbles behave unpredictably in turbulent water. Air layers can collapse under certain sea conditions. Distribution must adapt in real-time to changes in vessel speed, loading, and wave patterns.
This is where the expertise of Iyaan becomes essential. A specialist in hydrodynamics and control systems, Iyaan and his team at Airglide AI have filed patents for air lubrication inventions that optimize air distribution and system efficiency. Their focus is on making air lubrication reliable and practical for commercial use, not just in ideal conditions, but across the range of situations ships encounter at sea. Getting this balance right matters because the compressors that generate air consume energy, so the fuel saved from reduced drag must be greater than the fuel used to run the compressors.
Looking Forward
When effectively implemented, air lubrication can reduce fuel consumption by 5% to 10%. For large vessels burning tens of thousands of tons of fuel annually, even modest reductions represent significant cost savings and meaningful emissions cuts. As the maritime industry faces pressure to meet decarbonization targets, technologies like those Iyaan is developing will play an increasingly vital role, demonstrating that there are Pakistanis out there innovating in advanced technologies that can contribute solutions to reducing carbon emissions.
