23 companies across diverse industries, including Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha (K Line), Genco Shipping & Trading, Anglo American, Itochu, Mitsui E&S, Trafigura, TotalEnergies, Equinor and DNV have joined forces to initiate a joint study on ammonia as an alternative marine fuel.

The joint study framework will address common cross-industry challenges that need to be overcome for ammonia to contribute to the decarbonisation of the shipping industry, including the safety assessment of an ammonia-fueled ship and ammonia bunkering, ammonia fuel specification and the net carbon emissions from ammonia production.

Green ammonia, produced from green hydrogen using renewable electricity water and air, is heavily debated as fuel of choice to enable the industry to meet the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) carbon emission reduction targets proposed by 2050.

Jérôme Leprince-Ringuet, VP Marine Fuels at TotalEnergies, said: “Ammonia is seen as a promising future fuel for shipping from an emissions reduction and scalability perspective. However, safety, technology maturity and affordability remain key challenges which we need to overcome.”

Industry leaders have recently embarked on several joint projects to assess the technical, financial and environmental potential of converting existing vessels to future fuel solutions and technology, such as ammonia.

Many of the biggest names in shipping – including Maersk and Eastern Pacific Shipping – have publicly stated their belief that ammonia will be a top fuel of the future in recent months.