Ammonia Ship-to-Ship Bunkering Boom earns ClassNK AIP

September 30, 2024

L to R: Tsutomo Yokoyama, Executive Officer, NYK; Laurent Poidevin, President and Representative Director, TBG; Hayato Suga, Senior Executive Vice President, ClassNK. Photo courtesy ClassNK

NYK and TB Global Technologies Ltd. (TBG) received a certificate for approval in principle (AiP) from Nippon Kaiji Kyokai (ClassNK) for the ship-to-ship supply of fuel ammonia. The AIP was conferred last week at Gastech in Houston.

The most distinctive feature of the boom is a TBG-developed emergency-release system that allows the connection between an ammonia-fueled vessel and an ammonia bunkering vessel (ABV) to be disconnected instantly in an emergency.

In acquiring the AiP, NYK provided design data for its in-house developed ABV. In addition, to improve the safety and operability of the equipment, NYK provided knowledge on the handling of ammonia gained by NYK from its ammonia-transport business and expertise gained from Kaguya, Japan's first LNG bunkering vessel. Kaguya is operated by Central LNG Marine Fuel Corporation, of which NYK is the largest shareholder.