At Singapore Maritime Week, Maritime & Port Authority of Singapore and Australia’s national science agency CSIRO announced funding for eight maritime decarbonization projects, including ammonia safety training, and an AI-based safety management system. MPA also signed agreements with ABS, the Ports of Rotterdam and Antwerp-Brugges, and confirmed it has contributed to early work on training guidelines for the safe handling of methanol and ammonia at the IMO.
Maritime & Port Authority Singapore announced that it will finalise ammonia bunkering standards for the island nation by next year.
Two potential consortia have been selected to develop and operate an ammonia power generation and bunkering pilot on Jurong Island, Singapore. Either Keppel Infrastructure or Sembcorp-SLNG will be selected to lead the project, which will feature a 60 MW, direct ammonia-fed gas turbine, linked to a 100,000 ton ammonia bunkering facility.
Eastern Pacific Shipping’s on-order very large ammonia carriers (VLACs) will be registered in Singapore, thanks to a new partnership with the Maritime and Port Authority. Trafigura has announced the first of its ammonia-fueled, medium gas carriers will be delivered from South Korea in 2027. In Japan, K LINE and MAN are leading a 5-party collaboration to develop ammonia fueled-engines and deploy them in 200,000 dwt bulk carriers. We also explore ammonia-fueled Aframaxes in Malaysia, a concept study for a large-volume, coastal ammonia carrier in Japan, and a new salmon fishing vessel design in Norway.
Maritime & Port Authority of Singapore has announced new initiatives and a host of updates on ongoing maritime ammonia projects. Headlines include: green & digital shipping corridors to Rotterdam and Australia, an RFI for ammonia transport from select global locations that will fuel power generation and bunker demonstrations on Jurong Island, and a new training facility for seafarers. Also during the event, IMO Secretary-General Arsenio Dominguez visited the moored Fortescue Green Pioneer.
Fortescue Future Industries, Maritime and Port Authority Singapore and a host of supporting organisations announced a world-first marine trial in Singapore harbor last week. The vessel sailed on ammonia and diesel dual-fuel in harbor waters, after being loaded with liquid ammonia fuel at Vopak’s Banyan Terminal on Jurong Island. Two years of vessel development and months of safety and training exercises led up to the trial. MPA and Fortescue report that post-combustion NOx levels from the vessel met local air quality standards for Singapore, with further emissions treatment measures to be applied.
The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore and six Japanese ports will establish a “Green and Digital Shipping Corridor” between the two countries. The partners will embark on pilot projects and trials for alternative maritime fuels including ammonia, and work together to develop the necessary bunkering infrastructure, regulatory & training standards.
Sembcorp, IHI and GE will explore potential retrofits to existing gas turbines at the Sakra power plant to run on 100% ammonia fuel. The Sakra plant currently features two GE 9FA turbines, which are among the models IHI & GE are targeting for development of a “retrofittable” ammonia combustion system.
Expected to become commercially available in 2025, WinGD’s X-DF-A ammonia powered engines will be fitted on Samsung Heavy Industries’ newbuild vessels. Eastern Pacific Shipping expects its ammonia powered Newcastlemaxes and VLAC fleet to be delivered from 2026 onwards, after signing a series of agreements with MAN Energy Solutions and other key partners.
The Maritime & Port Authority of Singapore and the country’s Energy Market Authority (EMA) have jointly launched an EOI process to build, own and operate low or zero-carbon ammonia power generation and bunkering projects on Jurong Island. A project lifetime of 25 years is stipulated, with operations to begin in 2027 or before.
Since the Clydebank Declaration was signed last December, the prospect of ammonia-fueled, green maritime corridors has been steadily rising. The Global Maritime Forum has just released a valuable discussion paper on potential definitions and approaches for green corridors. Recent announcements in Europe, Singapore, Australia and the Nordic countries demonstrate growing momentum. For maritime stakeholders to capture early learnings and best manage the complex task of alternative maritime fuel scale-up, the opportune time is right now.
The latest episode of Maritime Ammonia Insights webinar centred around collaboration, leadership & Singapore: three critical elements in the maritime ammonia transition. Sofia Furstenberg Stott was joined by Peter H. Kirkeby (MAN Energy Solutions) and Yi Han Ng (Maritime and Port Authority Singapore), who discussed timelines for engine development, the benefits of a consortia approach, and the all-important safety & technical progress of maritime ammonia technologies.
Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC and UK-based Carlyle will both invest in the development of Eneus Energy’s renewable ammonia project pipeline, with plants in the US and UK planned. The Maritime & Port Authority Singapore and Port of Rotterdam have agreed to establish a green maritime corridor by 2027. The agreement will help accelerate the deployment of alternative maritime fuels like ammonia on the critical shipping route, which links two of the world’s largest bunkering ports. And a trio of organisations - PaxOcean Engineering, Hong Lam Marine and Bureau Veritas will jointly develop an ammonia bunkering vessel design.
Meet MAN Energy Solutions and the Maritime & Port Authority of Singapore, two organisations supporting each other in key first-mover ammonia fuel projects in the region.
ABS has granted Approval in Principle to Keppel Offshore & Marine for an ammonia-fueled, ammonia bunkering vessel. The new vessel is a key component of Project Sabre: a high-profile consortium of maritime organisations aiming to commence ammonia bunkering in Singapore by 2030.
Eastern Pacific Shipping will lead development of an ammonia-powered, dual-fuel gas tanker. The carrier will be built by Hyundai Heavy Industries, registered under the Singapore national flag, classed by ABS, and will be the first vessel fitted with MAN Energy Solutions’ G60 two-stroke dual-fuel ammonia engine. As EPS steadily scales up its engagement with maritime ammonia, another high-profile consortium is accelerating a bunkering study in Singapore.
Meet the Global Centre for Maritime Decarbonisation and DNV, two partners in an ammonia bunkering study that will pave the way forward for the deployment of ammonia bunker fuel in Singapore.
Two recent announcements show Singapore emerging as a center for development of ammonia as a maritime fuel. In both cases, multi-party coalitions, with Singaporean connections, are focusing on ground-breaking work.