On October 15 and 16, 2020, the Faculty of Engineering, University of Rijeka has organized the 24^th Symposium on the Theory and Practice of Shipbuilding - in memoriam prof. Leopold Sorta. This 24^th Symposium (the first was held in 1974) testifies to the continuous presence of the shipbuilding profession and science in Croatia, and the goal was to promote the existing educational, scientific, research and development capacities of Croatian shipbuilding, which are ready to participate, both now and in future, in the evolution of the shipbuilding profession and everything related to it, and finally the progress of the Croatian economy.

This year's symposium coincided with a period of change for the entire shipbuilding community in Croatia and beyond, the COVID-19 pandemic, which prevented participants from meeting directly due to uncertainty regarding travel restrictions, physical distance and other epidemiological measures. In order to adapt to the current situation, the Symposium was held entirely in an “online” environment.

The paper titled “An Overview of Measures for Improving the Energy Performance of Ships” was presented at the Symposium. The authors are L. Novak, D. Majnarić and R. Dejhalla, all from the Faculty of Engineering in Rijeka. This paper provides an overview of measures that ship designers and shipbuilders have at their disposal in order to increase the energy performance of ship. The primary goal is to maximize the energy efficiency of ships, i.e. to reduce the carbon emissions to a minimum. In this regard, the paper focuses on some of these opportunities, some of which are regulated by mandatory regulations and rules while other are applied on a voluntary basis. Increasing the energy efficiency of a ship is one of the steps towards creating “greener” shipping sector. The study was accomplished within a framework of the METRO project.