Skip to content
777 Sourcing.

Reporting and analysis

777 Sourcing Journal

Industrial markets, manufacturing and procurement reporting.

Market brief

World’s first ammonia-powered dry bulk ship completes sea trials

Completion of sea trials marks a milestone in commercial deploying of alternative fuels for ocean shipping.

Observed

Key data

status
External report
{'type': 'paragraph', 'value': '

According to FreightWaves, CMB.Tech’s Mineral Europa finished sea trials. The report said the Belgian shipowner called the 210,000-deadweight-ton Newcastlemax the world’s first ammonia-powered dry bulk carrier. The ship was built at Qingdao Beihai Shipyard in China and is to operate under a charter with Australian miner Fortescue, the report said. FreightWaves reported that its dual-fuel engine can burn ammonia or conventional marine fuel.

After the trials, the ship received 1,000 metric tons of green ammonia in ship-to-ship bunkering at Zhoushan, China, according to the report. It left for Australia on its maiden voyage Oct. 14, FreightWaves reported. The Antwerp-based company plans to deliver 21 ammonia-powered ships through 2029, including 18 dry bulk carriers, one containership and two chemical tankers, according to the report. CMB.Tech said Oct. 9 that most of those deliveries were expected in the following nine months, the report said.

“Mineral Europa is the first of its kind, but many more will follow in the months and years ahead,” CMB.Tech Chief Executive Alexander Saverys said in the company’s announcement, according to FreightWaves. Fortescue agreed in June to charter up to 12 CMB.Tech Newcastlemax vessels, the report said. Up to three were to have dual-fuel ammonia engines, with the rest ammonia-ready, according to reports cited by FreightWaves. CMB.Tech said that adding the ships was only part of the transition and that safe, efficient fuel delivery was also needed, according to the report.

Ammonia-fueled newbuilds typically cost 15%–20% more than conventional designs, according to maritime risk analyst DNV. For sourcing professionals, DNV’s assessment is that fuel cost remains the biggest barrier to ammonia-powered shipping: European green ammonia at about $2,900 per metric ton of marine-gas-oil-equivalent energy is roughly five times that of diesel fuel, and ammonia requires nearly three times the fuel volume of diesel for equivalent energy.

'}