World’s first ammonia-powered dry bulk ship completes sea trials

CMB. Tech’s Mineral Europa, described by its Belgian shipowner as the world’s first ammonia-powered dry bulk carrier, has completed sea trials, marking a step toward commercial deployment of the alternative fuel in large ocean-going cargo ships. The 210,000-deadweight-ton Newcastlemax was built at China’s Qingdao Beihai Shipyard and will operate under a charter agreement with Australian miner Fortescue. Its dual-fuel engine can run on ammonia or conventional marine fuel. Following the trials, the vessel took on 1,000 metric tons of green ammonia in a ship-to-ship bunkering operation at Zhoushan, China.