EXMAR’s two new Midsize Gas Carriers will be built at the Hyundai Mipo Dockyard in South Korea and fitted with ammonia dual-fuel engines. WinGD will supply the engines for the vessels, which are on track for delivery in early 2026.

In vessel news this week:

• ClassNK and partners are working on a joint study for the development of an ammonia-powered, ammonia bunkering tanker.
• Capital Gas’ order of two very large ammonia carriers to be built by Samsung Heavy Industries are scheduled for delivery by H2 2027.
• G2 Ocean has triggered its option of an additional two ammonia ready vessels from Grieg Maritime Group.
• WinGD and KSS Line will explore WinGD’s X-DF-A engines for newbuild vessels, focussing on midsize & very large carriers.

Expected to become commercially available in 2025, WinGD’s X-DF-A ammonia powered engines will be fitted on Samsung Heavy Industries’ newbuild vessels. Eastern Pacific Shipping expects its ammonia powered Newcastlemaxes and VLAC fleet to be delivered from 2026 onwards, after signing a series of agreements with MAN Energy Solutions and other key partners.

This week, we explore three new onboard systems: the Mitsubishi Ammonia Supply and Safety System (MAmmoSS®), Singapore-based C-LNG Solutions’ new ammonia low flash point fuel supply system, and a new NOx emission mitigation system developed by Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering and Hyundai Heavy Industries.

A new MoU between WinGD and Mitsubishi Shipbuilding will see the deployment of WinGD’s X-DF-A ammonia-fueled engines to a range of vessels. In Norway, Wärtsilä has unveiled a safety system designed for continuous onboard monitoring of ammonia leaks, featuring a staged combustion process to deal with accidental releases. And classification society DNV has awarded AiP to two significant ammonia-fueled vessel designs: the MS NoGAPs, and Viridis Bulk Carriers’ short sea bulk carrier.

WinGD and CMB.TECH will team up to develop & deploy ammonia-fueled, two-stroke engines in ten Capesize bulk carriers, to be built at the Beihai shipyard in China. The pair will continue development of WinGD’s dual fuel X72DF design, which was first announced in December 2021. Delivery of the vessels is due in 2025-6.

This week we explore four announcements in the maritime ammonia space:

• Færder Tankers Norway will receive $20 million in Enova funding to develop two ammonia-powered vessel designs: a tanker and a car carrier.
• Mitsubishi Shipbuilding has completed a conceptual design for an LPG-ammonia dual-fuel VLGC, with Approval in Principle granted by ClassNK.
• Delivery dates have been set for the first eight of Höegh Autoliners’ Aurora-class, ammonia-powered car carriers, with China Merchants Heavy Industry to deliver vessels from late 2024.
• WinGD and Hyundai Heavy Industries will collaborate to deliver the first WinGD two-stroke engine capable of running on ammonia by 2025.

Swiss-based engine developer WinGD has announced that its current portfolio of low-speed maritime engines will be ready to operate on methanol and ammonia by 2024 and 2025 respectively. Although WinGD's diesel-fueled X Engine series will require retrofits, the X-DF Engine series is already designed to run on biogas and will not require major modifications to run on methanol or ammonia.