In an interview with media outlet TradeWinds, MAN Energy Solutions has indicated that a detailed testing program for its two-stroke marine ammonia engine began last week in Copenhagen. With safe, sustainable operations paramount, MAN is aiming for the test engine to operate on 100% ammonia fuel in all four cylinders by 2025.
A joint study into ammonia safety onboard three different vessel types has found that safety risks of ammonia fuel can be mitigated, but only if technical safeguards are implemented and key “human factors” are addressed. The new report sets out a series of recommendations to ensure acceptable risk levels for crew on-board ammonia-fueled vessels.
Yara and Bunker Holding will look to accelerate the supply of ammonia bunker fuel to first movers in the shipping industry, focusing on key trading routes and port locations. In Norway, Equinor and Azane Fuel Solutions will undertake a new project, aiming to demonstrate how Norway’s offshore sector can be decarbonised by 2030 via the use of clean ammonia fuel.
The Global Centre for Maritime Decarbonisation released the public findings from its Ammonia bunkering pilot safety study last month. Three potential pilot sites have been identified in Singapore, and a combined HAZID - QRA methodology has found that 400 operational and locational risks for ammonia bunkering were all classed as low or mitigable. Sign up for our upcoming Ammonia Energy APAC conference in August to learn more, when GCMD Chief Technical Officer Dr. Sanjay Kuttan will join us in-person to explore the report and answer your key questions.
Two ammonia-ready vessels - the CMA CGM Masai Mara and the ALS Ceres - were delivered this May. Both are the first in a series of six containerships contracted to be built at different Chinese shipyards.
The pair will join forces to promote the adoption of low-carbon ammonia fuel in the maritime sector, with an initial focus on US inland waterways transportation. Amogy has also signed a new agreement to explore the potential retrofit of vessels in Skansi’s offshore service supply fleet with its ammonia-to-power technology system.
A new MoU between WinGD and Mitsubishi Shipbuilding will see the deployment of WinGD’s X-DF-A ammonia-fueled engines to a range of vessels. In Norway, Wärtsilä has unveiled a safety system designed for continuous onboard monitoring of ammonia leaks, featuring a staged combustion process to deal with accidental releases. And classification society DNV has awarded AiP to two significant ammonia-fueled vessel designs: the MS NoGAPs, and Viridis Bulk Carriers’ short sea bulk carrier.
Norwegian technology developer Pherousa announced that it has developed & validated an ammonia cracking-based propulsion system, with plans to order six Ultramax vessels fitted with the technology. Grieg Maritime has ordered up to four ammonia-ready bulk carriers from China State Shipbuilding Corporation for delivery in 2026. And a new container ship design has been unveiled by the Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller Center for Zero Carbon Shipping.
The Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller Center for Zero Carbon Shipping (MMCZCS), RMI, Danish Shipping, and Maersk Oil Trading have released two publications outlining their new Maritime Book & Claim system, which will undergo a pilot later this year. Under the system, ships will be able to ‘book’ emissions associated with individual voyages, which consumers can then ‘claim’. The system seeks to accelerate decarbonisation by empowering green shipping services to find customers offering green premiums, regardless of geographical constraints.
ABS has used computational fluid dynamics to model ammonia dispersion patterns in a ship’s engine room, with the aim of producing a fast, real-time response system for ammonia leaks. In Japan, a fuel supply system for large-scale, low-speed, two-stroke marine engines is undergoing final verification testing. Mitsubishi Shipbuilding aims to become a key technology provider of such systems, and in the ammonia maritime fuel space.