The IMO reports that significant progress has been made on the development of draft interim guidelines for the safety of ships using ammonia as fuel. Approval of the final guidelines is scheduled for December 2024, with a series of key regulatory updates due in the coming years.
In our latest episode of Maritime Ammonia Insights, Matt Dunlop (MMMZCS) and Samie Parkar (Lloyd’s Register’s) stepped us through key outcomes of a new, comprehensive safety study for ammonia-fuelled shipping. Combining Quantitative Risk Analysis with Human Factors analysis, a series of risk mitigation & worker training recommendations provides a path forward for the safe operations of ammonia-fuelled vessels.
AEA President Hans Vrijenhoef recently participated in an official hydrogen trade mission to Chile, addressing the audience at the Santiago Green Hydrogen Summit and securing interest to start planning Chile’s first ammonia-focused event. With a number of key challenges facing ammonia project developers in Latin America and the need to train & educate so many ammonia “newcomers”, 2024 will be the perfect opportunity to bring together all the key stakeholders.
Hear from the authors of a new joint study into ammonia safety onboard ships. The study is the most comprehensive to-date on the effectiveness of risk mitigation measures applied to ammonia-fueled vessels, pairing Quantitative Risk Assessment with an analysis of human factors.
As part of our Maritime Ammonia Insights series, we explore progress onboard the NH3 Kraken, Amogy’s ammonia-powered tug being developed in New York state. We heard updates on vessel retrofits, design points, project partners, the ongoing relationship with the US Coast Guard, HAZOP assessments, regulatory work and the remaining challenges before the tug hits the water for operational trials. Amogy’s Abigail Jablanksky and Chief Safety Solutions’ Herbert Fowlkes joined Conor Furstenberg Stott in conversation.
This week, we explore three new onboard systems: the Mitsubishi Ammonia Supply and Safety System (MAmmoSS®), Singapore-based C-LNG Solutions’ new ammonia low flash point fuel supply system, and a new NOx emission mitigation system developed by Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering and Hyundai Heavy Industries.
The Global Centre for Maritime Decarbonisation and the Society for Gas as a Marine Fuel will collaborate on new guidelines for ammonia as a marine fuel. The work will help build towards ammonia bunkering demonstrations in Singapore.
New analysis from the Global Maritime Forum has found that the cost gap between ammonia fuel and conventional fuel could be closed as early as 2026 for their new NoGAPS vessel. A series of levers need to be pulled to fully finance NoGAPS and similar vessels (such as long-term charters), but the authors report favorable deals should be readily available. The authors also map out three commercial pathways for NoGAPS to operate, the easiest being exclusive bunkering on the US Gulf Coast.
In Japan, NYK and TBG will develop a new ammonia bunkering boom to help reduce ammonia leakage during fuel transfers. On the newbuild front, Stolt Tanker’s six newbuild vessels will have the option of being retrofitted for ammonia propulsion, including the recently delivered Bochem Houston. Wallenius’ four “next generation” vessels will be initially methanol powered, with the option to run on ammonia.
