Ammonia-ready, ammonia-fueled and on-water ammonia production

By Julian Atchison on March 02, 2022

Following last month’s shipbuilding news from China, this week we explore three ammonia-related announcements from Norway-based players.

Breeze Ship Design: piloting an ammonia-fueled tanker

Breeze’s new, ammonia-fueled oil tanker design, based on an existing Aframax-size vessel. Source: Breeze Ship Designs.
Click to learn more. Breeze’s new, ammonia-fueled oil tanker design, based on an existing Aframax-size vessel. Source: Breeze Ship Designs.

Breeze will design an ammonia-fueled oil tanker, based on an existing Aframax-size vessel (110,000 DWT). The design will be part of the Green Shipping Program: a public-private partnership funded by the Norwegian government led by DNV GL. For the oil tanker pilot, Breeze aims to investigate all technical, economic and safety aspects of the vessel design, including ammonia bunkering & retrofitting an existing tanker to meet requirements. Ultimately, Breeze intends the pilot to deliver an ammonia-fueled oil tanker for Equinor to charter.

Six ammonia-ready, robotic supply vessels from VARD

Maritime robotics organisation Ocean Infinity has ordered six 85m, multi-purpose, remote-controlled offshore vessels from VARD. The six vessels will be added into Ocean Infinity’s existing Armada fleet, and eventually utilise ammonia as a fuel. Built in VARD’s Vietnam shipyards, the vessels will make their way to Norway, for installation of full robotic capabilities.

P2XFloater: the world’s first floating production unit for green ammonia at an industrial scale

Click to learn more about H2Carrier’s concept for a floating ammonia production Vessel: the P2XFloater. Pictured here, the P2XFloater (right) is moored next to an ammonia bunkering vessel. Source: H2Carrier.
Click to learn more about H2Carrier’s concept for a floating ammonia production
Vessel: the P2XFloater. Pictured here, the P2XFloater (right) is moored next to an ammonia bunkering vessel. Source: H2Carrier.

H2Carrier’s new concept vessel is designed to extend the life of current Very Large Gas Carriers (VLGCs) by converting them to floating ammonia plants. Wind, solar or hydro electricity reaches the moored vessel via high capacity, undersea cable and powers all aspects of production. Seawater is desalinated onboard, fed to electrolysers (140 MW) and then the green hydrogen used to make ammonia via conventional processes. The green ammonia liquid product can be transferred to other vessels, bunkering vessels or onshore infrastructure via pipes. The designers intend the vessel to be fully mobile, “seek[ing] out places where renewable energy is cheapest, even on a seasonal basis”.