The present paper describes the HOLISHIP–Holistic Optimisation of Ship Design and Operation for Life Cycle project approach to ship design and operation and demonstrates a subset of its functionality on the basis of a case study. This refers to a RoPAX ferry optimisation for minimum powering requirements and maximum life-cycle economic performance in realistic operating conditions by use of concurrent engineering tools from different project partners operating in collaboration on a common design software platform. The impact of alternative operating/speed scenarios on case study ship’s efficiency and safety is presented and discussed.