NYK and Yara link up for ammonia-fuelled gas carrier newbuild

Japanese shipping line Nippon Yusen Kaisha (NYK) has secured a charter deal from Yara Clean Ammonia, part of Norwegian ammonia and fertilizer manufacturer Yara for an ammonia-fuelled medium gas carrier.

Described as the world’s first charter for such a vessel, the deal will see a 40,000 cu m newbuild enter service in late 2026.

The newbuilding project follows a memorandum of understanding between NYK, Nihon Shipyard, Nippon Kaiji Kyokai (ClassNK) and Yara to explore the development of an ammonia-fuelled ammonia gas carrier.

The use of the 180-m-long vessel will greatly contribute to significantly reducing GHG emissions from shipping and developing an ammonia supply chain, the companies said in a joint release.

“We believe that using alternative fuels, especially ammonia, is essential to reaching the net-zero goal,” stated Hironobu Watanabe, managing executive officer at NYK.

“Our successful collaboration with NYK enables us not only to comply with future regulations related to CO2 emissions from sea-going vessels but also helps us to ensure that our customers can receive carbon-intensity compliant clean ammonia throughout our supply chain from well to wake,” said Murali Srinivasan, senior vice president of commercial at Yara Clean Ammonia, the company which operates the largest global ammonia network with 15 ships.