BV approves Dalian Shipbuilding’s liquid ammonia bunkering vessel design

China’s Dalian Shipbuilding has obtained approval in principle (AiP) from the French classification society Bureau Veritas (BV) for its 30,000 cbm liquid ammonia bunkering vessel design.

The approval was granted on September 3, 2024, during the SMM Hamburg trade fair in Germany.

According to Dalian Shipbuilding, the bunkering ship is about 180 meters long and is equipped with three C-type liquid cargo tanks with a low evaporation rate. It uses an ammonia fuel electric propulsion system with a service speed of 13 knots. High- and low-level bunkering stations with high bunkering rates and bow thrusters are set up to ensure “flexible, safe and efficient” operations.

In response to the risk of ammonia toxicity diffusion, Dalian Shipbuilding said that, together with BV, the company considered and carried out a liquid ammonia bunkering system and ammonia diffusion HAZID risk assessment from the user’s perspective, further ensuring the technical reliability of the ship design scheme and laying a “solid” technical foundation for the launch of this ship type to the market.

To note, Dalian Shipbuilding has been working on the development and design of liquid ammonia preparation equipment, very large liquid ammonia carriers (VLACs), liquid ammonia bunkering ships and liquid ammonia fuel powered ships that serve the offshore liquid ammonia industry chain, providing global customers with green ammonia as a sustainable alternative fuel to achieve a comprehensive solution for decarbonization of the shipping industry.

The company has been cooperating with Bureau Veritas in the field of green environmental protection and low-carbon emission reduction ships.

In other news, the first LNG-powered, wind-assisted LCO2 carrier, independently designed and built by Dalian Shipbuilding for Northern Lights, a joint venture (JV) of energy majors Shell, Equinor and TotalEnergies, completed its sea trials, which included performance tests such as the main engine navigation test according to the established tasks. As disclosed, the main performance indicators all reached or exceeded the expected targets.