Piloting trans-Atlantic voyage fuelled by green ammonium

Ammonia has been spotlighted as one of the more promising future fuels within shipping. But there are several uncertainties on how well it will work for deep-sea shipping. With Grieg Maritime Group taking part in several initiatives on both production and distribution of green ammonia, it is only natural that the group also invest in studying the possibilities for deep-sea shipping.

Partners from the whole value chain

The Norwegian Green Shipping Program initiated the pilot, which also has the Norwegian Ministry of Climate and Environment support.

Partners are all key players in the value chain, from cargo owner and world’s leading eucalyptus pulp producer Suzano to the world biggest Open Hatch shipping company G2 Ocean, technology companies, insurers, and others (see the complete list below). The pilot will include evaluating a business case for green ammonia fuel and whether green ammonia is viable as a fuel for deep-sea shipping. The partners will explore commercial, technical, infrastructure and financial workstreams. Grieg will be the pilot owner, with DNV the pilot facilitator.

Retrofitting L-class

While most projects on ammonia are looking at newbuildings, this pilot aims to retrofit one of Grieg’s 8-year-old L-class Open Hatch ships.

” If the shipping world is going to achieve its decarbonising goals, we need to include solutions for the existing fleet and actively and practically address the challenges. We must solve the decarbonisation challenge. We believe in ammonia, so we will investigate how to implement it on board a specific vessel type in one particular trans-Atlantic route with the whole value chain involved. Emission reductions matter the most in deep-sea shipping, and through this pilot, we will be a part of the solution,“ says Head of Grieg Star, Atle Sommer.

Trans-Atlantic trade

A potential trade route for the new vessel might be between Europe, the Gulf of Mexico and Brazil, from where partner Suzano ships large amounts of their paper and pulp products.

“Suzano was invited to participate in this project, which aims at reducing the use of petroleum-based products in the international maritime logistics, and we will help to find alternatives to enable this initiative. The purpose of the project is directly connected to Suzano’s goal of reducing the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of its own production and of the chains in which it operates,” says Thiago Oliveira Pereira, Logistics & Shipping Executive Manager of Suzano.

We will share the results

As the pilot is a study, no final decision to retrofit will be made at the end. Instead, the pilot will produce a final report, and its key findings will be shared with the rest of the business regardless of conclusion.

Green Shipping Program brings more than 100 different players in the Norwegian maritime cluster together with the common goal of establishing the world’s most efficient and environmentally friendly shipping. The program started in 2015. Our focus during the first years was on Norwegian coastal shipping. In continuing the program, we will also focus on deep-sea shipping. We will contribute to the learning we have gained at home can be utilized abroad. Furthermore, we will facilitate increased competitiveness and development of the Norwegian maritime industry as an international leader. Knowledge sharing has been and will continue to be our way of working for further development, says Narve Mjøs, CEO of the Green Shipping Programme.