Trafigura commits to ammonia fueling with newbuild order for four gas carriers

Image: Trafigura

One of the world’s largest charterers and operators of ships, Trafigura, has signed a contract for four medium gas carriers (MGC) that will be capable of using low-carbon ammonia as a propulsion fuel when delivered. The vessels will be built at HD Hyundai Mipo Dockyard in Ulsan, South Korea.

The vessels will carry LPG or ammonia and the first ship will be delivered in 2027. Each vessel, when delivered, will be equipped with a dual-fuel low-carbon ammonia engine, supporting Trafigura’s commitment to reduce the carbon intensity of its own shipping fleet by 25 percent by 2030.

Trafigura is one of the world’s largest charterers of vessels, responsible for more than 5,000 voyages a year with around 400 ships currently under management. The company has led the industry in calling for a global price on carbon to reduce emissions and is continually looking for ways to further reduce emissions from its fleet.

The company is one of the few operators to have tested a full range of alternative shipping fuels including LNG, methanol, LPG and biofuels on its owned and chartered vessels. It has co-sponsored the development of a two-stroke engine by MAN Energy Solutions that can run on green ammonia and is also investing in on-board carbon emission capture technology.

Investments are also being made in wider efficiency measures such as silicone hull coating, wake equalising ducts, ultrasonic propeller antifouling technology, and continuous underwater hull cleaning and propeller polishing.

As a member of the Global Maritime Forum’s Getting to Zero coalition and a founding member of the First Movers Coalition, Trafigura is also committed to helping to develop the low-carbon fuels and vessels required to decarbonize global shipping and says that today’s announcement marks an important next step in these efforts.

“We are excited to embark together with HD Hyundai Mipo on this ambitious project which supports our commitments to decarbonising shipping and will help us to develop the global low-carbon ammonia bunkering infrastructure needed for zero-carbon shipping to become a reality,” said Andrea Olivi, head of wet freight at Trafigura.

Trafigura is a founding member of the Sea Cargo Charter, an industry coalition established to collect, assess and report shipping emissions, a key member of the Global Maritime Forum’s Getting to Zero coalition and a founding member of the First Movers Coalition.