A group of eight major maritime stakeholders is studying the creation of ammonia bunkering at the Port of Savannah, which would deploy an ammonia articulated tug barge unit
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A consortium of eight maritime heavyweights have inked a memorandum of understanding to jointly study the establishment of the supply chain for green ammonia bunkering at the Port of Savannah, Georgia.
The effort brings together consortium members ABS, AP Moller–Maersk, Fleet Management Ltd, Georgia Ports Authority (GPA), Maersk Mc-Kinney Moller Center for Zero Carbon Shipping, Savage Services, Sumitomo Corp and TOTE Services.
The scope of feasibility study covers the end-to-end supply chain of ammonia bunkering, including the development of “a cost-effective green ammonia supply chain”, the design of an ammonia bunkering articulated tug-barge (ATB), and related supply chain infrastructure. Additionally, safety standards and regulations will be assessed.
Almost all ammonia (NH is not green because it is now produced from natural gas. However, because it does not emit any CO2 when combusted, ammonia is considered one of the most promising alternative marine fuels to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Green ammonia could be produced in a process called ammonia synthesis by combining nitrogen and hydrogen using renewable energy from wind, solar, hydropower or nuclear.
In discussing ammonia as a marine fuel, leading shipping insurer Gard notes green ammonia offers the dual potential towards zero-emissions shipping in both a ’well-to-wake’ and ’tank-to-wake’ basis. “Scalability of production and availability remain obstacles, as are novel engine technology designs, safety considerations and concerns about the supply chain. Moreover, there are regulatory and technical barriers for the use of toxic fuels,” says Gard.
ABS global sustainability vice president Panos Koutsourakis agrees. “Ammonia offers shipowners and operators a zero-carbon, tank-to-wake emissos profile. Yet, we also recognise that ammonia presents a specific set of safety and technology challenges,” says Mr Koutsourakis. “We look forward to engaging with the other project members and sharing our industry-leading experience with ammonia-fuelled vessels to support the study.”
ABS is working on numerous projects involving ammonia as a marine fuel, including issuing an approval in principle last year for an ammonia bunker vessel design from Keppel Offshore & Marine as part of Project Sabre. Project Sabre is an initiative undertaken by a consortium of maritime companies to develop a ship-to-ship-based ammonia bunker supply chain in Singapore. AP Moller-Maersk, Fleet Management, the Maersk Mc-Kinney Møller Center for Zero Carbon Shipping and Sumitomo Corp are also members of the Project Sabre consortium, which includes Keppel O&M, Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha and the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore.
Newest ammonia carrier in US
Already an established ammonia carrier in theUS consortium member Savage Services will focus on the ammonia transport component of the study. It already operates the largest and newest US-flag ammonia carrier, the liquefied ammonia transport barge Harvest. The vessel was built in 2017 by Vigor Shipyards and is coupled with ocean tug Abundance as part of an ATB unit. Fitted with four Type A prismatic tanks, Harvest has an overall length of 155 m, beam of 29 m, full load draught of 8 m and can carry 22,000 tonnes of anhydrous ammonia. To remain liquid, the ammonia cargo is kept at a temperature of -33°C.
Abundance, also built in 2017, was delivered by Nichols Brothers Boat Builders. Based on a design by Ocean Tug and Barge Engineering Corp, Abundance is built to ABS class, carrying the notations Maltese Cross A1-Towing service/AMS/ACCU/UWILD SOLAS compliant and certified to meet USCG Subchapter I. For ATB operation, the tug is fitted with an Articouple hydraulic connecting pin system.
Propulsion is supplied by two EMD 16-710T13 ainengines, each rated at 4,000 hp at 900 rpm that drive Rolls Royce shafting and propellers through two Lufkin RHS 3200 reduction gears.
A Savage spokesman told International Tug & Salvage, if the ammonia bunkering project were to come to fruition, it would require a purpose-built bunkering vessel. No deadline has been disclosed for the completion of the study.
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The Port of Savannah handled nearly 6M TEU in 2022, a 5% increase over 2021 (source: GPA)
Savannah expansion
A fast-growing container port, Savannah handled nearly 6M TEU in 2022, a 5% increase over 2021. Investments at the port should fuel further growth, including its Big Berth/Big Ship programme that will allow it to accommodate six 14,000-TEU vessels simultaneously by 2024.
The port forecasts annual capacity will increase from 6.0M to 7.5M TEU in 2023, and to 9M TEU by 2025. Savannah’s proximity to the Ports of Brunswick and Jacksonville – among the nation’s busiest vehicle handling ports – may hep failitate decarbonisation efforts in the automotive shipping industry as well.
AP Moller-Maersk, which has invested billions of dollars in methanol-fuelled newbuild box ships since ordering its first in 2021, sees the potential in exploring green ammonia. “At Maersk, we are committed to net zero by 2040,” says AP Moller-Maersk head of energy transition Morten Bo Christiansen. “For now, green methanol is the only pathway that is certain to have material impact in this decade, and we are happy to see the momentum that is building in the shipping industry on this pathway. However, given the enormity of the challenge ahead of us, we must keep exploring additional new fuel pathways. We see green ammonia as a fuel with potential in the long term for commercial shipping,” he adds.
Fleet Management managing director Kishore Rajvanshy says the shipmanager is “committed to supporting our clients on their green energy transition journey, and in recent years, has built capabilities in designig dua-fuel vessels and conducting safe and reliable ammonia bunkering.”
Maersk Mc-Kinney Moller Center for Zero Carbon Shipping chief technical officer Claus Winter Graugaard, says, “Enabling sustainable and scalable alternative fuel pathways is critically important for building confidence and investment appetite in fuel supply chains. At the Maersk Mc-Kinney Moller Center for Zero Carbon Shipping, we are leading multiparty scientific projects and risk management activities on how ammonia can be qualified as a sustainable and safe energy carrier for worldwide marine fuel deployment. The Port of Savannah project is a great logistical entry point for qualifying how ammonia could be made available. Furthermore, it provides a local and regional use case for commercial activation in the US east coast.”
Noting his company’s involvement in ammonia fuelling projects in Singapore and Oman, energy division general manager Koji Endo, says it is Sumitomo Corp’s “ambition to build the first shipto-shi ammonia bunkering base in the US.”
A pioneer in LNG bunkering, LNG-fuelled vessels and LNG retrofits, TOTE Services president Jeff Dixon says the US-flag vessel owner is committed to advancing alternative fuel solutions that will help lead the maritime industry toward net-zero emissions. “We look forward to leveraging our core competencies, technical expertise, and demonstrated record of safety and reliability in the LNG market to work with this great group of industry leaders in the ship-to-ship bunkering of ammonia,” says Mr Dixon.