An Australia-based consortium led by CSIRO, Australian Maritime College and TasRex has progressed plans for a five-day ammonia safety training course for port and ship crew, with the first cohort to undergo training in May-June 2026.
State-owned conglomerate Energy China and logistics and terminal specialist ADF are establishing a renewable ammonia supply chain in northeast China. In our recent episode of Project Features, we explored the Songyuan production project, and ADF’s planned scale-up of ammonia storage and transport facilities across China’s coast.
Ammonia-fueled iron ore carriers could feasibly be deployed on the South Africa-Europe iron ore trade route as soon as 2029, and scale toward full route decarbonisation by 2035. Saldanha Bay is currently home to South Africa’s primary iron-ore export terminal, and could develop into a marine ammonia fuel bunker hub with the right policy support levers and investment.
In April this year, a ship-to-ship ammonia bunkering demonstration was completed at the Port of Rotterdam. In October, two parties, OCI and VICTROL, who participated in the pilot, reached an agreement towards commercial implementation of ammonia bunkering.
The pair have signed an agreement for the investment of $1.6 million for new ammonia storage facilities and import infrastructure on Korea’s southeast coast. Two large-scale tanks, new vessel berths and an offshore transfer pipeline will be capable of handling 1.25 million tons of ammonia throughput every year.
The outcome leaves the global shipping industry with a target to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050, but – for now – no detailed pathway to reach those targets. The result also leaves a certainty gap, delaying critical investment in zero or near-zero (ZNZ) fuels and propulsion technologies. Despite the setback, work on finer details and mechanisms to be included in the framework continued this week in London.
ITOCHU, TORAY and Uyeno Transtech have signed a joint development agreement for ammonia bunkering in Japan. Ship management company BSM will oversee the technical management of ITOCHU’s 5000m3 capacity newbuild ammonia bunkering vessel, set to be delivered to Singapore in 2027.
