News / NOCC adds third ‘ammonia-ready’ PCTC newbuild orderbook

Photo: NOCC

Norwegian Car Carriers (NOCC) has added a third ‘ammonia-ready’ 7,000ceu LNG-powered ship to its two-vessel, $88m order at Chinese shipyard CIMC Raffles.

The global newbuilding orderbook for pure car and truck carriers (PCTCs) is at an all-time high, amounting to 35% of the current fleet, according to recent Clarksons data.

A vessel ‘ready’ for ammonia would be fitted with IMO Type C tanks that can be used both with ammonia and LNG, double-layer selective catalytic reduction and specially built piping and fuel supply systems coated in austenitic stainless steel, capable of withstanding ammonia’s corrosive effect.

But one engine expert told The Loadstar the term ‘-ready’ was relatively meaningless in the sense it is used by shipowners and shipyards today.

“It’s still very difficult to identify the level of readiness. Speaking from an engine designer side, [ammonia] is still an R&D project. So what is the industry preparing for?

“And yet, we see, almost every day, an owner has bought an ‘ammonia-ready’ engine. What does that mean? It could mean anything.”

Though methanol has been the future fuel of choice for the past year and much of this one, its pioneer, Maersk, seemed recently to have performed a u-turn, instead opting both to build and charter new LNG-fuelled vessels.

But there is reason to believe that green ammonia could take over from green methanol as the future fuel du jour. However, experts point out that while supplies of green ammonia would be limitlessly scalable, green methanol relies on supplies of biogenic carbon, a finite resource likely to be fully exploited by mid-century.

Meanwhile, LNG advocates point to the fact that much of the necessary infrastructure is already installed at ports, and that to switch to bio-LNG, a non-fossil form of LNG, would be easy both for vessels and supply chains.