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.
In our most recent episode of Maritime Ammonia Insights we introduced the Amon Maritime consortium. Amon is unique, as it builds from the ground up and shares risk to remove the chicken-and-egg dilemma faced by new maritime ammonia players. Acknowledging that external funding has been essential to reach the point where they are at today, Amon Maritime has progressed as a shipping company and ammonia bunkering network at remarkable speed. With their novel approach and impressive progress to date, there are many takeaways for the wider maritime stakeholder environment to consider. Amon’s CEO André Risholm and CCO Karl Arthur Bræin joined Conor Fürstenberg Stott to discuss the opportunities ahead.
Our latest episode of Maritime Ammonia Insights revealed key details about the Ammonia Bunkering Safety Study currently being undertaken in Singapore. The study is led by the Global Center for Maritime Decarbonisation (GCMD), with DNV acting as a consulting partner. Lau Wei Jie (GCMD) took us through the high-profile lineup of study partners, and explained how the study aims to develop an extensive technical guideline for ammonia bunkering, similar to TR 56 (which covers LNG bunkering). Dr. Imran Ibrahim (DNV Maritime Advisory), then explained the technical scope of the study, how pilot project sites will be selected, and how the study partners are using previous work from Rotterdam and Oslo to hone their approach. Our audience was eager to understand how this work in Singapore might be applied elsewhere, and keenly awaits the results, which are due for public release in February 2023.
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.
Yara Clean Ammonia, together with NCE Maritime CleanTech and with analysis support from DNV, have delivered a volume analysis and roadmap for the use of renewable ammonia in the Norwegian domestic shipping sector. With the right policy levers in place, renewable ammonia can meet and reach beyond the 2030 decarbonisation targets for the Norwegian domestic fleet, reducing emissions by as much as 69%.
A series of new announcements illustrates the growing importance of Egypt, the Suez Gulf and the area designated the Suez Canal Economic Zone to the ammonia energy transition:
Two sets of academic analyses highlight the huge potential for renewable energy and ammonia fuel to wean island states off fossil fuel use. Researchers from the University of Twente propose a highly-integrated energy generation and storage system for the Caribbean nation of Curaçao, with battery storage and ammonia fuel to offset periods of low wind-power output. On the Canary Islands, researchers from the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria present their concept for a “hexa-generation” energy system to produce electricity, water, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen and - ultimately - ammonia.
In three green maritime corridor announcements this week:
Yara has pre-ordered fifteen of Azane Fuel Solutions’ ammonia bunker terminal units. Once delivered, the pair will work to establish a carbon-free ammonia fuel bunker network in Scandinavia. Also this week, Amon Maritime (a founding partner of Azane Fuel Solutions), launched a new ship management company that will specialize in ammonia-fueled vessels.
In the few short weeks since we explored the concept & implementation of “Green Maritime Corridors” at Ammonia Energy, we’ve seen a flurry of significant players express their interest in the space. Here we explore announcements from the Castor Initiative, the European Green Corridors Network, and the news that Singapore will become a signatory to the Clydebank Declaration for Green Shipping Corridors.