Ammonia-powered cargo shipping in Finland

By Julian Atchison on October 06, 2022

Green NortH2 Energy, Meriaura and Wärtsilä team up

Green NortH2 Energy, Meriaura and Wärtsilä will team up to develop an ammonia-powered cargo vessel in Finland.
Click to learn more. Green NortH2 Energy, Meriaura and Wärtsilä will team up to develop an ammonia-powered cargo vessel in Finland.

The trio will develop a cargo vessel capable of running on ammonia fuel. Propelled by Wärtsilä multi-fuel engines (just last week we reported on the commercial launch of the Wärtsilä 25 model), fleet owner Meriaura will own and operate the vessel, and renewable project developer Green NortH2 Energy will supply renewable ammonia fuel from its to-be-built production plant in Naantali, southwest Finland.

The delivery of the vessel is targeted for 2024 and it is planned to start operating on green ammonia in 2026…The vessel is designed to trade in heavy project cargo segment together with Meriaura’s existing open deck carriers. Besides ammonia, it can be powered by bio oil or MDO.

Further vessel details, from Meriaura’s official press release, 21 Sept 2022

This is a natural step in Meriaura’s future fleet portfolio, complementing the fuel mix together with our in-house biofuel (LBO) production. This collaboration supports our ongoing newbuilding program and carbon neutrality goals.

Meriaura Chairman Jussi Mälkiä in his organisation’s official press release, 21 Sept 2022

Potential across Scandinavia

Meriaura’s fleet of cargo-carrying vessels is advertised as being well-suited to operations in the “harsh and difficult weather conditions” of the North and Baltic Seas, and the new ammonia-powered vessel should be no exception. There are two other similar vessel design projects under development in Norway: the ZeroCoaster vessel, and Viridis Bulk Carriers, a network of ammonia-powered cargo routes across Scandinavia. The unique combination of harsh operating conditions, significant local expertise and an ageing short-sea fleet is proving to be fertile ground for developing alternative fuel projects like these.

With an average age of close to 30 years, the European short-sea shipping fleet is on the verge of a much-needed renewal process. Our strategy is to meet the demand by replacing the aged fleet with zero emission ships. We are skipping gradual emission reductions and going straight for a long-term, sustainable solution.

Glastad Holding / Mosvolds Rederi CIO Jan Sigurd Vigmostad at Amon Maritime’s launch of the Viridis Bulk Carriers project, 30 March 2021