"The TARGETS proposal has been initiated in response to the COOPERATION work programme of the European Commission, Theme 7, Transport and Aeronautics. In particular, it addresses area SST.2010.1.1-2 / Energy Efficient Ships, in that it seeks to provide substantial improvements to ship energy consumption during the operation of cargo vessels.The prime goal of TARGETS - Targeted Advanced Research for Global Efficiency of Transportation Shipping – is a global analysis of the most important causes of energy consumption on board of cargo ships in a comprehensive and holistic approach. Having identified resistance and propulsion aspects as primary causes of energy consumption, work will be dedicated to the improvement of such characteristics. In addition, a global energy consumption simulation system will be developed to be applied during new vessel design as well as during operation.Assembling leading European fluid dynamics and energy specialists and major EU shipping operators covering a broad range of cargo transport operations, containers, bulk and tanker, the TARGETS project will contribute designs, tools and operational guidelines for an energy efficient operation of cargo ships, and hence make a significant contribution to the reduction of green house gas emissions."