Ammonia-powered Aframaxes
By on October 10, 2022
Agreement for development & construction
Thailand’s state-owned oil & gas organisation PTT and Singapore-based AET Tankers have signed an MoU for the development and construction of two dual-fuel Aframax vessels, with the intention of powering them with ammonia fuel. AET will select a shipyard for construction, with the two vessels to be delivered to PTT for long-term charters in late 2025/early 2026.
In April this year, AET signed a similar development & construction agreement with Lloyd’s Register and Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) for two dual-fuel VLCCs, also intended to be powered by ammonia fuel. AET signed that agreement as a representative subsidiary in the MISC Berhad Group – one of the key participants in the Castor Initiative.
Our collaboration with PTT also goes beyond these first two net-zero green ammonia powered Aframaxes. As like-minded partners, this MOU provides an avenue to work together on the design, safety and operational aspects as well as reskilling of mariners as part of the deliverables prior to the potential investment in this innovative project to meet the 2050 environmental agenda earlier than later. Providing the much-needed boost to create a green ammonia corridor in Southeast Asia would be another desired outcome of this MOU. For us, this collaboration with PTT will be complementary to the Castor Initiative, a multinational coalition championed by MISC and its Castor partners committed to make zero-emission in shipping a reality.
AET President & CEO and MISC Group COO Captain Rajalingam Subramaniam, in AET’s official press release, 29 Sept 2022
This is the second ammonia-powered Aframax announced this year. In February, Breeze Ship Designs announced they would be designing, developing and ultimately retrofitting an existing Aframax oil tanker. The demonstration project is part of the larger Green Shipping program, with the aim of delivering an ammonia-powered oil tanker for Equinor to charter.