NYK has announced that the tugboat Sakigake has been completed, and will enter three months of commercial trials in Yokohama harbor and Tokyo Bay. Thanks to retrofits, Japan’s first LNG-fueled vessel has now become Japan’s first ammonia-fueled vessel.
An NYK-led consortium has been granted engine room safety accreditation by ClassNK for its ammonia-fueled, medium gas carrier design. The vessel is due to hit the water in 2026. Starting later this decade, NYK has also committed to transport renewable ammonia from Sembcorp’s under-development production project in India to Kyushu, Japan.
The FuelEU Maritime Regulation is set to launch on August 31, requiring companies to submit monitoring plans ahead of its full implementation in January 2025. With modest initial targets and sophisticated compliance mechanisms like banking, borrowing, and pooling, the scheme offers flexibility while driving innovation in sustainable maritime technologies. The scheme also offers extra incentives for companies to proactively embrace Renewable Fuels of Non-Biological Origin (RFNBOs), before mandates enter into force next decade.
The pair will explore the integration of Amogy’s ammonia cracking technology with Yanmar’s under-development hydrogen internal combustion engine. Yanmar is a leading provider of marine engines for small-scale marine propulsion, and has also commercialised a hydrogen fuel cell system.
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.
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.
WinGD’s X‑DF‑A dual-fuel engines have been ordered by Singapore-based shipping giant AET for deployment onboard new Aframax tankers, being built in China. Fishing vessels operators Vardin and Framherji have ordered Wärtsilä 25 engines for a series of three fishing trawlers that will operate in the Faroe Islands. In construction news, CMB.TECH will build the Yara Eyde vessel for Yara and North Sea Container Line in China, with vessel delivery scheduled for mid-2026.
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.