ONE wins AiP for ammonia dual-fueled vessel, accelerating progress towards net zero

Singapore-based Ocean Network Express (ONE) has been awarded Approval in Principle (AiP) from classification society DNV for an ammonia dual-fueled vessel, marking another milestone for the shipping company on its journey towards net zero by 2050.

The newly AiP-awarded 3,500 TEU vessel was jointly developed by ONE, Nihon Shipyard (NSY) and DNV as part of a joint development project established in late 2022 among the three parties.

The shipping player, which was incepted in 2017 following the liner service integrations of Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha (K Line), Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL) and Nippon Yusen Kaisha (NYK), has been studying the feasibility of ammonia as an alternative fuel for zero emission according to the roadmap for alternative fuels which was developed by the company in 2022. In conjunction with the roadmap, ONE participated in a Global Centre for Maritime Decarbonisation-led (GCMD) ammonia bunkering pilot safety study.

“Ammonia is definitely one of the primary focuses of our research as ammonia fuel has a great potential of generating lower GHG emissions than conventional marine fuels. We are pleased to have made such a progress, and we will continue our study on ammonia,” Koshiro Wake, Senior Vice President of Corporate Strategy & Sustainability Department at ONE, commented.

“Ammonia is one of the promising future marine fuels with great potential to decarbonize shipping. We are confident that DNV’s rules for ammonia will help our customers to safely adopt this new fuel type once the infrastructure is in place. We are grateful to our JDP partners for entrusting us with this pioneering project that will help the entire maritime industry to adopt ammonia as a marine fuel,” Cristina Saenz de Santa Maria, Regional Manager South East Asia, Pacific & India, Maritime at DNV, said.

ONE Green Strategy has set an ambitious target to achieve Net-Zero GHG emissions, encompassing Scope 2 and 3 by 2050.

To achieve the target, the transition from conventional fuel to alternative fuels is defined as ONE’s key pillar of green initiatives. ONE intends to continue to study alternative fuels as it strives to become net zero by 2050.

Recently, the company ordered twelve 13,000 TEU methanol dual fuel containerships at Jiangnan Shipyard and Yangzijiang Shipbuilding. The ships are all scheduled to be delivered from 2027. 

ONE is the world’s sixth-largest container carrier with a fleet size of approximately 1.8 million TEU. ONE is a member of THE Alliance (THEA), a global ocean carrier consortium.