DNV to lead Singapore study into ammonia bunkering safety

Classification society DNV is to provide expert advice and guidance to participants in an ammonia bunkering safety study by the Global Centre for Maritime Decarbonisation (GCMD) in Singapore. The aim is to draw up safety guidelines and operational frameworks for bunkering trials at two local sites.

The classification society will cooperate closely with Singaporean infrastructure firm, Surbana Jurong, and the Singapore Maritime Academy.

Its work will include ammonia demand forecasts, bunker site recommendations, the development of possible bunkering methods sich as truck-to-ship, or ship-to-ship, hazard identification, hazard and operability analysis, and quantitative risk assessment.

Ammonia is widely seen as a promising zero-carbon fuel option but work by DNV has already shown that there are safety gaps which could disrupt the speed and success of its adoption as a marine fuel. Knut Ørbeck-Nilssen, CEO of DNV Maritime, commented: “The safe handling of ammonia is one such gap which urgently needs to be closed, given the threat it poses to seafarers and ships unless properly managed. We are therefore thrilled to partner with Surbana Jurong and the Singapore Maritime Academy on this pioneering initiative, which we hope will lay the foundations for robust ammonia bunkering safety guidelines with industry-wide applicability.”

In its recently published Maritime Forecast to 2050, DNV anticipates demonstration projects on the use of ammonia as a marine fuel by 2025 and its subsequent commercial adoption by 2030. The classification society expects a multi-fuel future, but has identfied both ammonia and bio-based methanol as the most promising carbon-neutral fuels in the long run.