Port of Rotterdam on the cusp of commercial ammonia bunkering operations

Click to learn more. The port of Rotterdam successfully demonstrated ship-to-ship ammonia bunkering. Strides are being made toward commercial operations. Source: Port of Rotterdam Authority.

The Port of Rotterdam is the largest port in Europe, with about 13% of the continent’s utilized energy passing through it each year. With a move to a low carbon energy future, Europe intends to import a sizable portion of its alternative fuels such as hydrogen, ammonia and methanol. As such, the Port will continue to play a major role due to its strategic location and port infrastructure.

To prepare for the anticipated increase in the volumes of ammonia and other hydrogen derivatives handled at the Port, multiple terminal infrastructure development projects are lined up. ACE, Air Products, GES, VTTI Amplifhy and Chane all have plans to develop commercial-scale ammonia terminals at the Port. These are in addition to OCI’s already operational independent ammonia terminal, the OCI Terminal Europort (OTE), which is the only independent, large-scale ammonia terminal at the port.

At present, OTE has a storage capacity of 30,000 tons. Permits have been obtained to increase the storage capacity and throughput to 90,000 tons and 2 million tons of ammonia annually, respectively, to match increasing demand. This will make Rotterdam Europe’s leading ammonia storage and distribution hub. Further, methanol and liquid hydrogen terminals are under development at the Port.

Following significant effort on the part of a public-private consortium, in April 2025, a successful ship-to-ship ammonia bunkering pilot was completed at the Port, raising its readiness for ammonia fuel to level 7 under the International Port Readiness framework. In that demonstration, 800 m3 of liquid ammonia was transferred in a 2.5 hour period, with OCI supplying the ammonia.

And another step towards commercial ammonia bunkering operations at the Port occurred last month, with an MoU signed between OCI Global and ammonia bunkering service company VICTROL for the joint development of a commercial clean ammonia bunkering supply chain in the Netherlands and Belgium.

The agreement is that OCI will, through its subsidiary OCI Ammonia Distribution B.V., import CCS-based and renewable ammonia from the US, Middle East, North Africa and Asia. The ammonia will be delivered to OCI Terminal Europort, for storage and distribution for use as a marine fuel. VICTROL, which has barging and bunkering expertise and participated along with OCI in the April pilot demonstration, will design, build, and operate a liquid ammonia bunker barge which will load refrigerated ammonia at the terminal for direct delivery to ships in the ports and onshore users. The two parties are now sorting safety and regulatory frameworks.

Ammonia is essential to the energy transition – the most scalable, policy-backed, and commercially viable clean hydrogen solution available today. The unparalleled combination of OCI’s expansive sourcing network, proprietary import terminal and valuable end-user partnerships, with VICTROL’s unique expertise in bunkering infrastructure, is creating Europe’s first end-to-end ammonia fuel supply chain. Together, we are proud to be positioning Rotterdam as the leading global hub for clean ammonia and maritime decarbonization.

Aviv Bar Tal, Global VP at OCI, in VICTROL’s official press release, 9th October 2025

The port of Rotterdam is preparing for a multi-fuel future to decarbonize global shipping, with ammonia as one of the future fuels. It is great to see this strategic partnership develop after the successful ammonia bunkering pilot in April 2025, where both OCI and Victrol also played an important role. Such collaborations are instrumental to create safe and sustainable supply chains and are key for Rotterdam to advance its preparedness for ammonia bunkering.

Matthijs van Doorn, VP Commercial, Port of Rotterdam Authority, in VICTROL’s official press release, 9th October 2025