Japan’s Marubeni Corp is partnering gas carrier specialist Solvang to operate an ammonia carrier.
The trading house announced the beginning of the joint operation of the Hyundai-built, 60,200-cbm Clipper Neptun (built 2008) this week, saying Solvang has extensive knowledge and experience in shipping ammonia.
The Norwegian company is a leading player in ammonia seaborne transportation with a 10% share of the global volume of shipments.
“With Marubeni’s participation in the field of transportation of ammonia, a clean energy source for which demand is expected to grow, and through this partnership with Solvang, we will contribute to the stable supply of ammonia around the world,” Marubeni said.
It described the partnership as part of its long-term vision for combating climate change: “As a pioneer in establishing a low-carbon ammonia supply chain from development and manufacturing to sales, Marubeni has been contributing to Japan’s energy security and developing businesses to decarbonise the country.”
Marubeni said the joint vessel operation with Solvang will enable it to deepen its knowledge of ammonia transportation and “contribute to the establishment of a global low-carbon fuel ammonia value chain and global climate change mitigation measures in the medium to long term”.
Japan expects domestic demand for ammonia to reach 3m tonnes in 2030 and 30m tonnes in 2050.
It has a goal of establishing domestic and overseas supply chains for Japanese companies to transport 100m tonnes of ammonia by 2050.
