Yara International in plan to build world’s first ammonia-fueled containership

Image: Yara Clean Ammonia

Norway’s Yara International, the world’s largest producer of ammonia, and its Yara Clean Ammonia offshoot are joining forces with another Norwegian player, North Sea Container Line to build and operate the world’s first ammonia-fueled containership.

Yara Clean Ammonia AS and North Sea Container Line AS plan to set up a joint venture, NCL Oslofjord AS, to operate the ship, which will be called Yara Eyde. Establishment of the joint venture and ordering of the ship is conditional on the completion of binding agreements and the necessary approvals from the authorities.

The project has been awarded just over NOK 40 million (about $3.7 million) by the Norwegian government’s innovation agency, Enova.

Yara Eyde is optimized for the trade corridor between Norway and Europe and will operate between Oslo, Brevik, Hamburg and Bremerhaven.

Thus far, few details of the ammonia-fueled containership’s size, propulsion machinery or where it will be built have emerged, but plans are for it to be operational by 2026 when, it is said, “Norwegian companies can export their products on a green keel, and trade goods can be imported emission-free into Norway.”

“The world is in the middle of a climate crisis and all good forces must now come together to quickly cut emissions,” says Svein Tore Holsether, CEO of Yara International. “We are happy to be able to collaborate across sectors and show that decisive emission cuts are possible. The green journey started with the Yara Birkeland, the world’s first autonomous electric containership, and now we continue it with the Yara Eyde, which will be the world’s first containership operating on pure ammonia.

“We see there is increasing demand from product owners to reduce emissions. The ship offers competitive and emission-free logistics to all cargo owners in the Oslofjord and the Greenland region,” says Bente Hetland of North Sea Container Line.

“Yara has chosen to participate in this project to show that this segment can create additional growth for ammonia in the short term,” says Magnus Krogh Ankarstrand, head of Yara Clean Ammonia. “Yara will contribute to developing this new market, but we will strategically use our funds to develop the production and logistics segment and not prioritize ownership in ships.”

Yara Clean Ammonia will supply Yara Eyde with ammonia that is produced fossil-free or almost carbon-free. Together with Azane Fuel Solutions, as we have reported previously, a storage and bunkering network is being developed to make pure ammonia available in Norwegian and eventually Scandinavian ports. The bunkering network can also contribute to achieving Norway’s goal of cutting emissions from the offshore sector.

Enova and Innovation Norway are supporting the first pilots and one of the bunkering barges is planned to supply Yara Eyde with low-emission fuel in Brevik, Hamburg, Bremerhaven, Oslo and Brevik.

WHAT’S IN A NAME?

Yara Eyde is named after the Norwegian industrialist Sam Eyde. The founder of several of Norway’s largest corporations to date, such as Yara, Hydro and Elkem, he played a crucial role in the industrialization of Norway in the early 20th century through the large-scale development of hydroelectric power plants in Norway.

Together with Kristian Birkeland, (for whom Yara Birkeland is named) Eyde invented and commercialized the Birkeland-Eyde-process, which transformed fertilizer production. Yara Eyde will honor his legacy by sailing on green ammonia produced by the renewable electricity from the hydroelectric plants Sam Eyde developed over 100 years ago.