This paper explorers the possibilities to design a ship for a future 'sea change' like a major retrofit of the engine room. In order to assess the potential future beneficial impact of such design measures, a demonstrator method has been developed that scores a concept design for its 'Retrofit-penalty', thus allowing for comparison of design alternatives and what-if analyses in a very early stage. The conclusion is that such an approach is feasible, but in order to get more meaningful results further research on scaling of parameters is required.@en