Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd. has joined the Ammonia STS trial which was led and completed by the Global Centre for Maritime Decarbonisation (GCMD), reports MOL.
Simulate Bunkering
In the absence of ammonia bunkering infrastructure, STS transfers offer the closest proxy to bunkering operations when it replicates the essential steps involved. With this objective in mind, the trial was conducted with a transfer to simulate bunkering at the Port of Dampier in the Pilbara region of Australia, an ammonia production region. It is also expected to be one of the ammonia bunkering hubs soon, leveraging the port’s experience with ammonia export. During this trial, two STS transfers of 4,000 cubic meters of Ammonia took place between MOL’s LPG/Ammonia carrier “Green Pioneer” and the “Navigator Global” owned by Navigator Gas.
Before the trial, together with Yara Clean Ammonia (YCA), the Green Pioneer’s charterer (Note 1) as well as the supplier of the ammonia used in this trial, MOL contributed to have marine experts on board during the trial period to provide technical guidance as an Impact partner of GCMD (Note 2). In addition, MOL has repeatedly joined detailed discussions with GCMD, YCA, and other project partners, including safety consultants, STS service providers, ports, and Australian Government agencies, to ensure the safe operation of the series of STS.
MOL and the Yara Clean Ammonia have been working together since the signing of a memorandum of understanding on decarbonization projects including ammonia area in 2022, and the success of this trial has been achieved through close collaboration aligned with this agreement.
Ammonia As Fuel
These STS transfer trials were part of a GCMD-led initiative in collaboration with Partners to enable ammonia as a marine fuel. The consortium conducted risks and safety studies and developed emergency response procedures for the transfers based on the findings and recommendations from GCMD’s 2023 safety study on piloting ammonia bunkering and its plans for actual operations.
Professor Lynn Loo, CEO, of GCMD, said: “Translating the recommendations from our 2023 safety study into action through this pair of STS transfers demonstrates the essence of GCMD – operationalizing pilots and trials to accelerate maritime decarbonization. We are deeply grateful to all our partners for their support, without which this pioneering effort would not have been possible. This pilot marks a crucial step towards preparing the ecosystem for the use of ammonia as a marine fuel, paving the way for eventual bunkering when ammonia-fueled vessels become available.”
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Source: MOL
