MD 3.0

Loki Dynamics unveiled the MD 3.0 at Seawork 2026 in Southampton on 11 June 2026, billing it as the first diesel engine purpose-designed for the 24-hour duty cycles that crewless surface vessels require. The 3.0-litre inline six-cylinder CRDI unit produces up to 340 horsepower from a compacted aluminium block with integrated autonomous control interfaces.

Conventional marine diesels are built for crewed vessels where an operator varies throttle continuously; autonomous duty cycles instead demand sustained high-load running with no manual intervention, which voids the warranty on standard marine engines. The Society of Maritime Industries identified that warranty gap, alongside the absence of standardised control interfaces, as one of the two structural barriers keeping UK maritime-autonomy firms from scaling past demonstration projects.

MD Powertrain, the Swedish developer, supplies the engineering base; Loki Dynamics represents the product in the UK market. The engine's power profile suits coastal patrol, offshore inspection and mine-hunting support vessels in the 10-20 metre range, though no contracts had been disclosed at launch.