"MARPOS aims at assisting the Commission in the implementation of the EU Maritime Transport Policy priorities by utilising the results of past and current research work in Maritime Transport and related expertise from the Transport sector. It addresses the issue by consolidating and synthesising the results of Maritime Transport research in the past two FPs (FP5 and FP6) as well as the current FP7, in order to come up with a set of conclusions about the results of maritime transport research on 5 maritime transport thematic areas, namely, competitiveness, environment ,energy, safety –security and human factors. Key output of MARPOS will be a publication with the results of the EC funded research work and an easy-to-use searchable database (e-tool) through which all interested parties will have the opportunity to be informed on the results of the European research over the past decade. The e-tool will be updateable providing links to the past and current/future research work in European maritime transport area.The project looks also in detail in the reverse direction, in a way compatible with the requirements of the current Transport programme, the future needs and priorities for EU funded Maritime Transport research so as to better serve the realisation of the objectives of the general Maritime Transport Policy. Finally, an important part of the work is devoted to dissemination and networking actions. These activities include the organisation of 2 major events as well as the use of internet. The aim is to present to various experts, administrators, and policy makers across EU the Maritime Transport research evolution, including objectives and outcomes, and recommendations regarding future Transport research themes & priorities."