Australian company Oceania Marine Energy and Norway’s Kanfer Shipping will be working together to bring the ammonia-ready LNG bunkering vessel to Australia.

The partners will look to build a long-term zero-emission sustainable shipping industry in Australia using LNG as the transition fuel and move towards green ammonia and methanol as the targeted fuel for bunkering vessels operating in the northwest and eastern ports of Australia.

Oceania said it is progressing its LNG bunker license applications with key port authorities and is engaging in preliminary talks with Australian natural gas and green ammonia.

“Australia is uniquely positioned to be the world leader in providing zero-carbon fuels to the shipping industry,” said Nick Bentley, director of Oceania Marine Energy.

Kanfer has an exclusive design license with its compatriot, CGR Arctic Marine, with the goal of enabling liquid gas transportation with the smallest environmental footprint possible.

The vessel design, which can be adapted to load LNG, methanol or ammonia, utilises LNG as a fuel combined with hybrid and peak energy saving technologies from Kongsberg Maritime. With future modification, the Rolls-Royce Bergen gas engines could be converted to operate on ammonia.

Kanfer has recently signed a shipbuilding contract with China-based Taizhou Wuzhou Shipbuilding Industry for the construction of its first two small-scale LNG bunkering vessels.