Nutrien, Exmar team up on ammonia-fueled vessel

Belgium-based shipowner Exmar has inked an agreement with Canadian fertilizer company Nutrien to develop and build a low-carbon, ammonia-fueled vessel to reduce maritime emissions.

Under the collaboration agreement, Nutrien and EXMAR will, amongst others, collaborate on the following:

• select an ammonia engine and supply system manufacturer;
• select a shipyard capable of building an ammonia-powered vessel;
• use Nutrien’s existing low-carbon ammonia supply from Geismar, LA as a fuel;
• and deploy an ammonia-fueled vessel..

Furthermore, the collaboration aims to significantly reduce Nutrien’s maritime transportation emissions and enable the commercial development of an ammonia-fueled vessel as early as 2025. 

“Nutrien and EXMAR support the decarbonization of shipping and the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) Green House Gas (GHG) Strategy to reduce emissions,” the company stated.

Nutrien has been actively pursuing the development of low-carbon ammonia for more than a decade, and has approximately 1 million tonnes of production capability through its Redwater and Joffre Alberta operations, as well as its Geismar, Louisiana facility

The facility employs carbon capture and sequestration technology to reduce the carbon intensity of its ammonia for use as a maritime fuel.

“This initiative demonstrates how we are taking action to achieve our Feeding the Future Plan’s 2030 sustainability commitments, which include investing in low-carbon ammonia innovations,” said Raef Sully, Nutrien’s Executive Vice President and CEO of Nitrogen and Phosphate.

Two weeks ago, two Norway-based companies launched a joint venture to fill an existing gap in the ammonia fuel value chain by developing ammonia ship bunkering infrastructure technology, products and services.