A new feasibility study conducted by maritime engineering and technology solutions company Lloyds Register has found that clean ammonia can potentially refuel ships visiting the Pilbara region of Western Australia.
The study was originally commissioned by the Pilbara Ports Authority (PPA) and Yara Clean Ammonia in October 2022, three months after the two entities entered into a collaboration agreement to facilitate the uptake of clean ammonia as a marine fuel in the Pilbara region.
The results from the study found that safe ammonia refuelling is economically and operationally viable within the Pilbara region.
It looked at the estimated demand and likely availability of ammonia as a replacement shipping fuel, and the potential risks and regulatory requirements associated with its refuelling.
It found that ship-to-ship bunkering operations could be performed within acceptable risk levels at anchorages in Dampier and Port Hedland, and that existing ammonia production and export infrastructure within the Pilbara could be used to initiate bunkering operations.
“The Pilbara contains the world’s largest bulk export ports. Last year we achieved 752.4 million tonnes of trade with more than 6829 vessel visits,” PPA chief executive officer Samuel McSkimming said.
“This scale of operations cannot be found anywhere else in the world, and it makes Pilbara’s ports the natural beachhead from which the global bulk carrier fleet will decarbonise.”
McSkimming said that the study is an important step towards implementing safe ship-to-ship ammonia bunkering at anchorages in Dampier and Port Hedland.
“Ammonia is already widely produced, used, and shipped in industrial quantities around the world. To be able to expand its application as a green shipping fuel would greatly reduce shipping emissions,” he said.
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