Safety training for port-side and ship operations: progress in Australia

CSIRO, AMC and TasRex aim for first course to be run mid-2026 in Australia

Click to enlarge. An ammonia live release exercise at the Australian Maritime College’s firefighting facilities in Bell Bay, Launceston (Nov 2025).

An Australia-based consortium led by the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Australian Maritime College (AMC) and TasRex has progressed plans for a five-day ammonia safety training course for port and ship crew. Following an industry workshop this week (including a series of live releases overseen by the Ammonia Safety Training Institute, or ASTI), feedback from participants will be integrated into the draft curriculum.

Click to enlarge. The industry workshop at the Australian Maritime College included a diverse set of maritime stakeholders (Nov 2025).

State fire & rescue crews, environmental regulators, port authorities and future training providers were all present in Launceston, Tasmania, to experience first-hand some of the topics and safety content that will be presented in the short course, as well as a preview of the live practical demonstrations. For next steps, the project partners will refine the five-day curriculum, before the first cohort goes through the training in May-June 2026.

Click to enlarge. Participants at the industry workshop learned about the basic properties and safe handling aspects of ammonia, delivered by the Ammonia Safety Training Institute, or ASTI (Nov 2025).

The project was launched in March 2025, aiming to “tackle a critical workforce capability gap”. The project is part of the Australia-Singapore Initiative on Low Emissions Technologies (ASLET), supporting the establishment of a Singapore and Australia Green and Digital Shipping Corridor. Back in March, MPA Singapore and CSIRO announced funding for eight R&D projects (including this safety training, and an AI-based safety management system).

The “human element” of maritime ammonia fuel a key priority

Seafarer and shoreside crew training for ammonia fuel is being established in key shipping centers all over the world. Already in 2025:

• The IMO-backed Maritime Just Transition Task Force unveiled interim frameworks for training seafarers on vessels powered by alternative fuels such as ammonia
• Advanced simulators for ammonia fuel training launched in Malaysia (Wärtsilä), with a similar facility to be opened in India next year (Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement)
• Establishment of the Maritime Energy Training Facility in Singapore by MPA, featuring a dual fuel marine engine simulator for training on the safe handling, bunkering and management of incidents
• Anglo-Eastern launches new LNG/ammonia bunkering training station in Mumbai, India
• And Lloyd’s Register and the Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller Center for Zero Carbon Shipping released the detailed report – Ammonia as Fuel – Competencies and Training – in February