Hoegh Autoliners revealed on Thursday a partnership with a unit of Yara International to help provide bunkers for a dozen of the ammonia-fuelled car carrier newbuildings it has under construction.
This is the latest move by a shipping company looking to secure supplies of future, low-carbon fuels as part of the industry’s global decarbonisation efforts.
The link-up between Hoegh and Yara Clean Ammonia was concluded in May, with the two companies signing a letter of intent “around the supply, potential distribution, and delivery for consumption of clean ammonia for the Hoegh Autoliners’ new AuroraClass PCTC vessels”.
As TradeWinds already reported, Hoegh has 12 such ships under construction at China Merchants Heavy Industry (Jiangsu).
The company has described the 9,100-ceu vessels as “the biggest and most environmentally friendly car carriers [to be] ever built,” as they will be equipped to operate on zero-carbon ammonia and methanol.
Hoegh has committed to power by 2030 at least 5% of its deepsea operations with “green” ammonia, which is produced by renewable energy sources only. According to Thursday’s statement, Hoegh aims to run its fleet on at least 100,000 tonnes of this fuel by then.
Back in May, likely at about the same time in which it agreed the LOI with Yara, Hoegh announced a separate cooperation with Grieg Maritime-backed North Ammonia to source green ammonia for four of the vessels it has under construction.
North Ammonia intends to develop the fuel a production, storage and distribution facility at Eydehavn, 190 km south-west of Oslo, by 2027.
In its other deal with Yara, which it unveiled on Thursday, Hoegh focuses on “clean” ammonia instead — which describes ammonia produced by using carbon-free renewable energy, or natural gas in combination with low-carbon technologies such as carbon capture storage (CCS).
Hoegh and Yara said that as part of the deal, they will also consider the supply of “blue” ammonia, a “clean” ammonia variant in which up to 95% of the CO2-emissions are captured and permanently stored.
No off-take agreement or prices were disclosed.
“For Hoegh Autoliners, this represents another step towards full decarbonisation of our customers’ supply chains, and we are pleased to collaborate with a strong Norwegian global player to meet this goal,” Hoegh chief executive Andreas Enger said.
Both Hoegh and Yara, which is the world’s biggest ammonia distributor, are parts of the First Movers Coalition launched during the United Nations’ COP26 climate summit in Glasgow two years ago.
Yara Clean Ammonia currently has two ammonia plants under development in the US, in which up to 95% of the CO2 emissions will be captured and permanently stored.
The company also has two green ammonia pilot projects under construction with “several off-take agreements” on its books.
Late last month, Yara International’s Yara Growth Ventures unit took a 14% stake in Norwegian ammonia bunkering start-up Azane Fuel Solutions, which intends to build the world’s first ammonia bunkering network.
Yara Clean Ammonia has already ordered 15 Azane bunkering units.
