MSC Plans Ammonia-Fuelled Boxship

by Ship & Bunker News Team
Thursday May 18, 2023

Container line MSC, the world's largest shipping firm, is investigating the possibility of taking on an ammonia-fuelled boxship.

The firm has signed a memorandum of understanding with Lloyd's Register, Shanghai Merchant Ship Design & Research Unit and MAN Energy Solutions seeking to design a duel-fuelled container ship capable of running on ammonia, Lloyd's Register said in a statement on its website on Thursday.

The ship is intended to have 8,200 TEU of capacity.

"Proactive collaboration between ship operators, ship designers, class and engine makers has never been so important," Giuseppe Gargiulo, head of newbuilding at MSC, said in the statement.

"MSC is pleased to enter in this project to evaluate if zero carbon fuels like ammonia can be safely adopted and the impact they will have on vessel operation."

In a recent interview with Ship & Bunker, MSC CEO Soren Toft said his firm was open to the idea of ammonia propulsion in addition to other alternative fuels.

"On ammonia, the big question is really the toxicity," Toft said.

"I don't know, but I believe that this will be solved eventually.

"I cannot tell you which will be the winner; I actually believe that we will end up running ships on all three fuel types [bio-LNG, methanol and ammonia] in the future."

Ship & Bunker News Team
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