COSCO Shipping: China’s first ammonia bunkering operation
By on January 15, 2025
Retrofitted tugboat refueled in Dalian
Click to learn more. COSCO Shipping reports a successful truck-to-ship ammonia bunkering operation took place in Dalian, China in late 2024. Source: COSCO Shipping LinkedIn.
COSCO Shipping reports that a successful ammonia bunkering operation took place at the end of 2024 in Dalian, China. China Shipping & Sinopec Suppliers – one of the country’s largest bunker providers – refueled the tugboat Yuantuo 1 in a truck-to-ship approach, the first such operation ever performed in China. The operation was also a valuable first test of Sinopec’s equipment systems. The high-powered tugboat has been retrofitted to run on ammonia (originally a diesel engine).
The retrofitted tugboat Yuantuo 1, which was refueled with ammonia by China Shipping & Sinopec Suppliers last December. Source: COSCO Shipping LinkedIn.
The announcement follows a year of practical firsts for ammonia bunkering. In 2024 we saw:
- multiple ship-to-ship ammonia transfers at outer anchorage in the Port of Dampier, Australia, simulating ammonia bunker transfer operations within a port for the first time.
- truck-to-ship bunkering of NYK Line’s retrofitted A-Tug vessel in the Port of Yokohama.
- a ship-to-ship ammonia transfer in the Straits of Gibraltar.
- another ship-to-ship ammonia transfer just outside the Port of Ngqura in South Africa.
- and the sailing and refueling of Fortescue’s Green Pioneer ammonia-fueled vessel in Singaporean waters, including a tank-to-ship transfer at Jurong Island.