More than $37 billion will be invested across the initial stages of hydrogen and ammonia production projects, ranging in location from the Gulf of Suez to west of the Nile Delta. A series of agreements concerning existing and newly-announced projects were signed at the recent Egypt-EU Investment Conference.
At last month’s MariNH3 conference in Nottingham, a series of keynotes laid out the opportunities and challenges ahead for marine ammonia fuel. Onboard ammonia cracking technologies are moving through testing phases and closer to commercialisation, vessel designers are working through the unique challenges of carrying ammonia fuel onboard, and emissions mitigation technology (in combination with adherence to existing Tier 3 standards) will be necessary to ensure that ammonia-powered vessels are more environmentally-friendly than conventional counterparts.
Wärtsilä Gas Solutions will now provide the ammonia fuel supply and cargo handling systems for all six of EXMAR’s dual-fuel vessels being built in South Korea. Meanwhile, Amogy and Mitsubishi have completed concept designs for two onboard systems: a powertrain combining ammonia cracking and hydrogen fuel cell for ships, and a hydrogen supply facility to provide hydrogen as pilot fuel to an ammonia-fueled engine.
Trafigura reports its first successful ship-to-ship transfer of ammonia has taken place in the Straits of Gibraltar. Around 6,000 tons of ammonia being shipped from CF Industries’ Donaldsonville complex in Louisiana was transferred between gas carriers, before being delivered to Fertiberia in Spain for the production of feritliser.
Meet the Port of Rotterdam, OCI Global and Chane, three organisations at the forefront of preparing the Netherlands for increased ammonia imports. In this webinar, learn how updates to PGS-12 - the Dutch national guideline for ammonia storage and handling - will help unlock expanded ammonia imports to Rotterdam and other key ports.
New funding from the Norwegian government will assist two maritime ammonia developers: Amon Gas and Höegh Autoliners. Amon has confirmed orders for two ammonia-powered, mid-sized gas carriers, while Höegh will establish an ammonia fuel supply chain to ensure its Aurora Class car carriers can run on ammonia fuel on delivery in 2027.
The Port of Antwerp-Bruges, the Port of Gothenburg, North Sea Port, and ferry transport provider DFDS aim to be operating two ammonia-fueled Roll-on/roll-off ferries on various routes between Sweden and Belgium by 2030.
Several ammonia-centric vessel designs were granted AiP at the recent Posidonia shipping exhibition in Greece. Lloyd’s Register approved designs including the world’s largest Very Large Ammonia Carrier, a container vessel and a gas carrier propelled by Amogy’s ammonia-to-power technology, a NOX-compliant container vessel featuring a MAN ammonia engine, and an ammonia-powered Very Large Ore Carrier. Lloyd’s Register also recently approved H2SITE’s onboard ammonia cracking technology.
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.
Multiple ammonia import bases are under development in Asia. In Singapore, Vopak and Air Liquide will explore new infrastructure on Jurong Island. In South Korea, Ulsan Port Authority and NGO Pacific Environment will cooperate to accelerate the transition of Ulsan into an “eco-friendly” port. And in Japan, IHI will lead two study consortia exploring new supply and distribution hubs in Hokkaido and Fukushima.