Cruise News - Maritime News

Classification society Lloyd’s Register (LR) awarded Dalian Shipbuilding Industry (DSIC) and MAN Energy Solutions approval in principle (AIP) for the design of an ammonia-fuelled 23,000 TEU ultra large container ship at the Marintec trade fair in Shanghai on 3 December. The design was the first ammonia as fuel design of its kind in China.

LR facilitated hazard identification (HAZID) workshops to determine potential hazards throughout the design phase, covering areas limited to the ammonia-fuelled engine and the external piping systems. LR also provides technical guidance regarding the ship’s design and the provision of technical materials, in accordance with the goals and functional requirements from current and anticipated regulatory rules, procedures and guidelines.

Mark Darley, LR North Asia President, said: “This is an exciting project, not only for LR who has had many firsts in this area, including the first hydrogen-fuelled ferry, Hydroville, but for the Chinese market as this is the first design of its kind and shows the country’s commitment to shipping’s decarbonisation journey. The global shipping community is facing the challenges associated with the IMO’s GHG ambitions, this is the first step in exploring and testing low carbon alternatives such as ammonia.”

Bjarne Foldager, Senior Vice President, Head of Two-Stroke Business at MAN Energy Solutions, said: “Enabling vessels to operate with low emissions has been an aim of MAN Energy Solutions’ two-stroke portfolio for many years and we continuously introduce engines capable of operating on such clean fuels as LNG, methanol and ethanol. As such, low-speed marine engines are already the most efficient propulsion system for trans-oceanic shipping, making them the de-facto, standard powertrain for commercial vessels. In this respect, developing ships fuelled by ammonia makes perfect sense as it has the potential in the future to be created from renewable, primary-energy sources such as wind, hydro or solar.”