Alexander Saverys, the CEO of Belgian shipowner CMB.Tech, said that 11 vessels powered by ammonia will be delivered between this summer and March next year, as part of their decarbonisation plans.

Saverys, a reporter at the Singapore Maritime Week Conference, told reporters that the first ammonia ship would be delivered this summer.

According to the company, 10 Newcastlemax bulkers with a deadweight of 210,000 tons are being built by Qingdao Beihai Shipyard. One 1,400 Twenty-foot Equivalent Unit (TEU) Container vessel is being built by China Merchants Industry Weihai. The dual-fuelled vessel can be powered by either ammonia or diesel.

CMB.Tech has signed an agreement to off-take green ammonia from CEEC?Hydrogen energy in Jilin Province. The shipper owns a small minority stake in Jiangsu andefu Technology?, a privately owned company.

Saverys stated that "the partnership with Andefu was to invest in the ammonia logistic chain in China because we needed to connect the production site and the delivery to our vessels."

We need trucks, rails, tanks, and bunker barges to transport ammonia. And Andefu is the place to be.

Saverys?said that for now, China was the only country where green ammonia could be purchased, but he expected India to increase production in 2011.

He said that the costs of producing renewable electricity are falling very quickly.

"We need to invest more than ever in green ammonia vessels."

Saverys believes that a greater focus on energy security, in light of the 'Iran war' will help accelerate the green transformation in the future.

He said: "We are even more convinced that this is the right direction to go because decarbonized products will eventually be cheaper than fossil fueled fuels."

He added, "Today with the rise in the price of diesel it is already cheaper."

(source: Reuters)