Powerful players eye Singapore as green ammonia bunkering hub

Written by Nick Blenkey
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“At A. P. Moller-Maersk we see green ammonia as an important future fuel for the decarbonization of our fleet,” says Morten Bo Christiansen, VP and Head of Decarbonization at A.P. Moller-Maersk

Aiming to play a pioneering role in establishing a supply chain for ship-to-ship green ammonia bunkering in the Port of Singapore, a group of leading maritime companies have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to kick the process off with a joint feasibility study.

Signatories to the MoU are A.P. Moller – Maersk A/S, Fleet Management Limited, Keppel Offshore & Marine, the Maersk Mc-Kinney Moller Center for Zero Carbon Shipping, Sumitomo Corporation and Yara International ASA.

Emitting zero CO2 when combusted, ammonia has long been considered as one of the most promising alternative marine fuels to reduce shipping greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in line with International Maritime Organization (IMO) ambitions.

Green ammonia has particular potential as it is produced from only renewable electricity, water and air with no CO2 emission. (Blue ammonia is carbon-neutral ammonia produced from natural gas, with the CO2 produced from the processes being captured and prevented from entering the atmosphere. Brown ammonia is conventional ammonia produced from natural gas).

The study aims to cover the entire end-to-end supply chain of ammonia bunkering, which includes the development of a cost-effective green ammonia supply chain, design of ammonia bunkering vessels, as well as related supply chain infrastructure.

Relevant government agencies and experts in Singapore will be engaged in working towards the standardization of safe operation and regulations. The study will assess the supply of ammonia including potential synergies with Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) as a starting point. Considering the comparable requirements for mild refrigerated storage, vessels or barges initially designed for LPG can also handle brown, blue and green ammonia.

Here’s what the partners will do:

A.P. Moller – Maersk A/S: will provide input specific to container vessels and will work on development of safe and reliable bunkering procedures for ammonia.

Fleet Management Limited will work on the development of safe and reliable operating bunkering procedures for the alternative marine fuels from a manning service provider’s point of view.

Keppel Offshore & Marine will develop and design the new build ammonia bunkering vessel and an ammonia-ready LPG bunkering vessel and lead in the coordination with relevant authorities in Singapore to establish port regulations and operational guidelines.

The Maersk Mc-Kinney Moller Center for Zero Carbon Shipping will map all safety related topics in an ammonia maritime technology roadmap. Outcome of the bunkering study will be integrated in a techno-economic model including detailed understanding of end-to-end cost and Life Cycle Analysis.

Sumitomo Corporation will structure, integrate and promote the end-to-end supply chain of green/blue/brown ammonia and LPG as aternative marine fuels, including their supply, transportation, storage and bunkering.

Yara International ASA will lead in the feasibility evaluation of the supply of green/blue/brown ammonia to Singapore

IMPORTANT FUTURE FUEL

“Alongside methanol, at A. P. Moller-Maersk we see green ammonia as an important future fuel for the decarbonization of our fleet,” said Morten Bo Christiansen, vice president and head of decarbonization at A.P. Moller-Maersk. “A dual fuel ammonia engine is currently under development, but for green ammonia to fuel our vessels in the future we also have supply, infrastructure and safety related challenges to solve, not least when it comes to bunkering operations.”

Chris Ong, CEO of Keppel Offshore & Marine, said, “There are multiple routes to the decarbonization of the marine industry and we are pleased to be able to leverage our expertise in engineering and bunkering to spearhead the development of cleaner marine fuels such as ammonia.”

“This project will address gaps in infrastructure and regulation and bring forward the solutions needed for safe operations and bunkering of ammonia in ports,” said Bo Cerup-Simonsen, CEO of the Maersk Mc-Kinney Moller Center for Zero Carbon Shipping.”

“With this MoU, we embark on our ambition to build the world’s first Ship-to-Ship ammonia bunkering base, which highlight our commitment to offer our customers the best available and technologically proven solution to reduce the emission footprint from maritime transport,” said Hajime Mori, CEO of Sumitomo Corporation.

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