Norway’s Hoegh Autoliners has joined forces with Australian miner and bulker owner Fortescue to accelerate the creation of a supply chain for green ammonia.
The partners signed a cooperation agreement at the COP 29 environmental summit in Azerbaijan while urging global shipping regulators to fast-track the adoption of eco-fuels.
Fortescue and Hoegh Autoliners have committed to working together to explore the technical and commercial requirements for a green ammonia supply chain for bunkering. They said they have long shared a strong commitment to reducing maritime emissions as members of the First Movers Coalition for shipping.
Both companies will also be signatories to a call to action for an equitable energy transition in shipping, to be launched at COP29.
In March, Fortescue made history in sustainable shipping when its 3,100-dwt platform supply vessel FFI Green Pioneer (built 2010) became the world’s first ship to use ammonia as a fuel at the Port of Singapore.
Car carrier owner Hoegh Autoliners, meanwhile has launched a transformational green fleet renewal programme, ordering 12 new multifuel-ready vessels.
The last four ships in the Aurora series are planned to be delivered with dual-fuel ammonia propulsion.
Fortescue Energy chief executive Mark Hutchinson said: “Shipping is a global industry with a global regulator and today the industry is at a crossroads.
“There are so many transition fuels that are being peddled out there, but they are just a distraction. Only green ammonia can help us reduce carbon emissions in shipping and in turn, can help us address the worst impacts of climate change.”
Hutchinson called for early incentives for hydrogen-derived fuels, specifically ammonia, for 2030.
“Otherwise, we are kicking the can down the road and leaving too large a scale-up for the 2040s,” he said.
Hoegh Autoliners chief executive Andreas Enger said: “With Fortescue, we are making the impossible possible, actively changing the perception of deepsea shipping and ensuring that we are ready to sail on green ammonia around the world from 2027.”
