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Male Energy Solutions to use ammonia-fuelled ship engines after 2027

Guy Energy Solutions strategies to deliver later this year its firstever engine fuelled by ammonia for installation on a new vessel in Japan and will be prepared to provide ammoniapowered engines to its customers after 2027, its president stated.

Ammonia is among several alternative fuels that carriers are exploring to reduce emissions. The shipping industry transportations around 90% of world trade, however accounts for nearly 3% of the world's co2 emissions, and setting up engines that burn cleaner fuels on vessels might help slow international warming trends.

The ammonia-fuelled ship will take a year or two to go through trials, while fuel supply, bunkering infrastructure and safety requirements have to be created, male Energy Solutions CEO Uwe Lauber informed late on Friday.

Actual sales (of ammonia engines), I would not predict it before 2027, he stated.

Additional cooperation with port authorities, consisting of in Singapore, the world's most significant center for ship refuelling referred to as bunkering, is needed to make sure ammonia bunkering is performed securely, Lauber stated.

While ammonia doesn't include carbon, it is hazardous and will require stringent safety measures when being handled as a ship fuel.

Lauber did caution, nevertheless, that the output of green ammonia, which is produced from sustainable fuels and the electrolysis of water and is considered a far cleaner fuel source, is unlikely to reach a particular scale before 2030, Lauber stated.

If people think this will come tomorrow that's a dream, this will not come. We require to develop infrastructure, he stated.

A lot of work requires to be done also on security devices with the classification societies. There are no guidelines today available on how to create an ammonia system on a ship, Lauber said.

On Friday, male Energy Solutions opened a 20 million-euro ($ 21.6-million) workshop in Singapore, its biggest exterior Europe, to preserve, repair, and retrofit fleets utilizing its dual-fuelled engines that can burn oil and alternative fuels such as melted natural gas and methanol.

The company plans to increase the number of staff in Singapore to 400-500, up from 250 now, and will train customers on how to run duel-fuel engines more effectively, Lauber stated.

The most significant problem is to attend to the existing fleet since our customers do not wish to get rid of their ships, he included.

Depending on the ship's age, value and its engine type, Lauber estimated that 3,000-5,000 of the 20,000 ships globally that usage MAN engines can be retrofitted to burn option fuels and the conversion bundle might cost between $25 million to $50 million.

Guy is likewise conducting tests on its engines to utilize 100%. biofuels, up from 30% currently, he said.

(source: Reuters)