Hydrogen as marine fuel | World's first truck-to-ship ammonia supply to be carried out in Japan

Japan’s NYK Group is planning to carry out a pioneering supply operation by using a truck to deliver ammonia to fuel a tug boat.

The fuelling operation, planned for the end of May, emerges from an agreement with Japanese power generation company JERA and chemicals company Resonac to study safe ammonia bunkering.

NYK is among a growing list of shipping companies that are investing in ammonia as a fuel of the future. Ammonia has no carbon in its molecule, and can be produced from green hydrogen and a renewables-powered Haber-Bosch process that combines the H2 with nitrogen from the air — thus creating a green fuel with a higher energy density by volume than compressed or liquefied hydrogen.

But ammonia poses a challenge: it is a highly toxic substance that has yet to be deployed as a fuel in shipping.

“The NYK Group will continue to develop business activities that consider the global environment through the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in its oceangoing shipping business and contribute to strengthening the international competitiveness of the Japan Maritime Cluster in the global shipping industry’s efforts toward decarbonisation,” NYK said.

The three partners have been working to build a system for transporting ammonia to port areas and lobbying authorities for rules to supply the fuel.

The solution that the group settled on was carrying out the world’s first truck-to-ship ammonia bunkering, which is due to take place in May.

Tokyo-headquartered NYK has ordered the 37-metre tug boat, named A-Tug, from Shin Nippon Kaiyosha, a shipyard controlled by the company that has nearly completed the vessel.

NYK has also reached a deal with JERA that will see the energy company provide the fuel for the tug.

Once on board, ammonia will be combusted in two IHI Power Systems dual-fuel, four-stroke engines, with A-Tug operating in Tokyo Bay from June.

A version of this article first appeared in Hydrogen Insight's sister publication, TradeWinds, which covers the global shipping industry.