Tanker firm AET, a subsidiary of Malaysia’s MISC Group, is planning to build an ammonia-fuelled Aframax vessel, reports Ship& Bunker.
Zero-emission vessel
The firm has signed a memorandum of understanding with PETCO Trading Labuan Company exploring a potential collaboration to deploy a zero-emission Aframax tanker that could run on green ammonia, AET said in a statement on its website on Monday.
The deal envisages AET delivering the vessel to PETCO under long-term charter as soon as 2026.
“Both parties also intend to collaborate on design, safety, and operational aspects as well as to study opportunities for a green ammonia corridor in Southeast Asia, in support of International Maritime Organization’s greenhouse gas intensity reduction agenda,” AET said in the statement.
Ammonia as the future fuel
Ammonia is widely expected to take up a significant share of the marine energy mix in future decades as the shipping industry works to eliminate its GHG emissions. But for now shipowners remain wary of its toxicity and the potential impact on shipping crews’ health and the marine environment in the event of spills, and further research and development work will be needed into its safe handling as a bunker fuel.
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Source: Ship&Bunker
