Singapore-based Global Centre for Maritime Decarbonisation (GCMD) and the Society for Gas as a Marine Fuel (SGMF) on 7 September signed a two-year agreement to form standards on the use of ammonia as a marine fuel.
The agreement was signed on the sidelines of the Gastech 2023 event held in Singapore this week. Other details such as the completion timelines for the proposed standards were not available.
This move came on the back of the completion of a nine-month ammonia bunkering safety study in April this year. The study was conducted by GCMD along with the DNV Maritime Advisory and supported by Singapore state-controlled consultancy firm Surbana Jurong and the Singapore Maritime Academy at the Singapore Polytechnic educational institute. The survey, which included feedback from industry participants, shed light on measures necessary for safe ammonia bunkering.
The agreement between GCMD and SGMF will allow Singapore to progress its goal of decarbonising the marine industry.
"While ammonia vessels are not expected to be on water till 2026, we will need to ready the ecosystem for ammonia bunkering in the meantime by getting guidelines in place if bunkering of vessels is to happen then," GCMD chief executive officer Lynn Loo said, without providing further details.
