The maritime industry is facing an unprecedented transformation driven by stringent decarbonization targets and the imperative to transition to cleaner energy, according to Reuters.
Green Pioneer
The Green Pioneer, seemingly a normal ship docked in London’s Canary Wharf on a sunny March morning, is, in fact, a harbinger of significant innovation. Its owners hope that this vessel will catalyze regulators and port operators to implement the necessary changes to secure a vital role for a new fuel in the shipping sector’s transition to net-zero emissions.
This showcase comes at a critical time for the maritime industry, which is facing increasingly stringent environmental regulations:
- In April 2025, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) agreed upon mandatory emissions limits and a global price on emissions for ships exceeding these limits. These regulations are scheduled to take effect in 2028, pending ratification later this year. Under these rules, shipowners will be required to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions intensity of their ships’ fuel by 30% by 2035 and 65% by 2040.
- This global push follows regional initiatives, such as the European Union’s extension of its Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) to shipping in 2024 and its FuelEU Maritime regulation, which came into force this year, setting lifecycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emission-intensity requirements for large vessels.
The urgency for these changes is underscored by the shipping sector’s current environmental footprint. It already accounts for 3% of global greenhouse gas emissions. However, without decisive action, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) warns that its contribution could swell to 5-8% by 2050.
Alternative Fuels
The shipping industry is actively exploring various alternative fuels to replace the current almost exclusive reliance on oil-based fuels (which account for 99% of energy used in international shipping). Contenders include LNG ships utilizing biomethane, liquid methanol, ammonia, hydrogen, and biofuels.
For Australian mining giant Fortescue, owners of the Green Pioneer, ammonia is identified as the optimal fuel option. Ammonia, a compound of nitrogen and hydrogen, emits no CO2 when burned. If the hydrogen used to produce it is sourced from renewable energy, Fortescue aims to achieve zero-carbon shipping of its products globally, significantly reducing the over 3 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent its operations emitted last year. Fortescue has already converted two of the four engines on the 75-meter Green Pioneer to run on ammonia, and its global tour, including a stop in London, is demonstrating the fuel’s safety and viability.
Last year, the Green Pioneer successfully completed the world’s first dual-fueled ammonia fuel load and trial in the Port of Singapore. It also received a “gas-fuelled ammonia” notation from classification society DNV, allowing it to use ammonia in combination with diesel as a marine fuel.
Despite acknowledging the current insufficient supply of zero-carbon ammonia for the Green Pioneer, let alone the entire industry, Fortescue’s goal is to catalyze jurisdictional and regulatory support for ammonia from ports worldwide. This is intended to ensure that refueling infrastructure, operational know-how, and safety protocols are ready as green ammonia producers scale up supply. Andrew Hoare, Fortescue’s head of green shipping, notes that several major ports are preparing for ammonia, with Singapore aiming to install pilot bunkering infrastructure by 2027, and Rotterdam having completed a trial transfer of ammonia between ships in April.
However, high costs and significant safety concerns regarding ammonia’s toxicity and corrosiveness present considerable hurdles. Globally, only 25 ships are currently on order that would use ammonia as a second fuel. Fortescue itself has had to shelve its target to produce 15 million metric tonnes per year of green hydrogen by 2030 due to the high cost of renewable electricity. Nevertheless, the company still plans to make green ammonia commercially available to shipping companies from 2027.
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Source: Reuters
