ITOCHU Orders Ammonia Bunkering Vessel
Singapore-based ITOCHU Corporation has ordered a 5,000m3 ammonia bunkering vessel from Sasaki Shipbuilding and an ammonia tank from Izumi Steel Works.
The world’s first newbuilding ammonia bunkering vessel is to be flagged under the Singapore Registry and is expected to be delivered in September 2027.
The deals were signed by Clean Ammonia Bunkering Shipping (CABS), a wholly owned company of ITOCHU. CABS has concluded a financing agreement with The Hiroshima Bank for financing a part of the purchase price of the vessel.
Ammonia expected to be used as a zero-emission marine fuel, and ammonia bunkering vessels are drawing attention globally as important facilities in the fuel supply chain that play the last one-mile role, says ITOCHU.
ITOCHU will establish an offshore bunkering operation for ammonia via ship-to-ship transfer. ITOCHU plans to establish connection between the first movers in clean ammonia production and the first movers in the ammonia-fueled vessels and commercialize its ammonia bunkering business in Singapore and around the world, including Spain (Strait of Gibraltar), Egypt (Suez Canal) and Japan.
The company expects the vessel’s construction will contribute to strengthening the competitiveness of Japan’s shipbuilding industry.
The deals further the “Demonstration Project for Bunkering Ammonia as Marine Fuel in Singapore” project adopted by Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry as part of the Global South Future-oriented Co-Creation Project (large-scale demonstration in ASEAN member states) (2nd public solicitation).
