Trio sets out to build zero-emission VLCCs

A group of shipping firms have agreed to build the world’s two first very large crude carriers (VLCCs) that can be fuelled with green ammonia as part of the Castor Initiative.

PHOTO: From left to right: the heads of Samsung Heavy Industries J.T. Jung, MISC Berhad Datuk Yee Yang Chien, and Lloyd's Register Nick Brown. Lloyd's Register

Shipping classification society Lloyd’s Register announced it has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with South Korean shipbuilder Samsung Heavy Industries and Malaysian shipowner and operator MISC Berhad.

The vessels will be dual-fuel and come into operation by the end of 2025 and early 2026. MISC subsidiary AET will operate them.

They form part of the Castor Initiative to “make zero-emission shipping a reality”.

To meet the International Maritime Organisation’s (IMO) 50% greenhouse gas reduction target for 2050, zero-emission vessels need to become the default option by 2030, Lloyd’s Register chief executive Nick Brown said.

The firms will identify green shipping corridors to find locations to bunker green ammonia in, and train ship crew on how to operate the two VLCCs on ammonia.

“Getting these vessels on water is not the only focus, there is the long game of ensuring the reskilling of talent and the availability of bunkering facilities which are key to the sustainable operations of these two new vessels,” MISC president and chief executive Datuk Yee Yang Chien said.

The Maritime Port Authority of Singapore, which has backed a multi-fuel transition decarbonise shipping, said partnerships like these are key to reach upcoming global emission targets.

Singapore’s Jurong Port said it is looking for ways to contribute to develop logistics and a supply chain to deliver ammonia as a bunker fuel to these VLCCs and other ships.