Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd. (MOL) has participated in an ammonia ship-to-shore (STS) experiment led and completed by the Global Centre for Maritime Decarbonisation (GCMD).
The trial included a transfer to imitate bunkering in the Port of Dampier in Australia’s Pilbara region, which produces ammonia.
It is also expected to be one of the ammonia bunkering hubs in the near future, leveraging the port’s experience with ammonia export.
During this trial, MOL’s LPG/Ammonia carriers, Green Pioneer and Navigator Global, made two STS transfers of 4,000 cubic metres of ammonia.
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These STS transfer trials were part of a GCMD-led programme, in collaboration with Partners, to enable ammonia use as a maritime fuel.
The partnership completed risk and safety assessments, as well as emergency response protocols for the transfers, based on the results and recommendations of GCMD’s 2023 safety research on piloting ammonia bunkering and its preparations for real operations.
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Murali Srinivasan, Senior Vice president and Commercial Head of YCA said: “International shipping accounts for approximately 3 per cent of the global GHG emissions and we see clean ammonia as the zero-emission fuel to decarbonise the shipping industry and meet the International Maritime Organization (IMO) targets.
“The successful ship-to-ship transfer of ammonia is a critical learning step forward in enabling ammonia bunkering operations in a port environment as global shipping moves to effective use of clean ammonia as a fuel.”
