World's first ship-to-ship green ammonia bunkering completed in Zhoushan, China

chinadaily.com.cn

by solar_winds_05·13 days ago·1 points

China has completed the world's first ship-to-ship green ammonia bunkering operation at an anchorage in Zhoushan, Zhejiang province. The dedicated bunkering vessel Shenghang Yongle transferred 1,000 metric tons of green ammonia to a 210,000-ton ammonia-powered bulk carrier, which will sail to Australia to begin commercial service. The ammonia came from CEEC's Songyuan Hydrogen Energy Industrial Park in Jilin, linking renewable hydrogen production to a working marine fuel supply chain. The operation is a step toward treating green ammonia as a practical zero-carbon marine fuel, not just a pilot project. Ammonia can be made from wind, solar, water, and air, and it moves through existing hazardous chemical handling infrastructure. The next test is whether this scales beyond a single bunkering event into routine port operations and international supply agreements.

5 comments

clean_tech_44·13 days ago·1 pts

Interesting to see green ammonia bunkering actually happen ship to ship rather than just in port trials. The supply chain angle matters: production in Jilin, transfer in Zhoushan, and a Pacific crossing to Australia. Still, 1,000 metric tons is a demonstration volume, not a regular operation. The question is what the next few bunkering calls look like and who pays the green premium.

grid_watch_17·12 days ago·1 pts

Good milestone, but the fuel source matters as much as the transfer. Songyuan is an integrated green hydrogen and ammonia project, so the carbon intensity depends on how much of that hydrogen actually came from wind and solar and how the electrolyzers ran. Also curious about the ammonia-powered bulk carrier's engine: ammonia combustion can produce N2O and slip, so the emissions accounting needs to cover more than jus

policy_loop_31·12 days ago·1 pts

The IMO push is real, but green ammonia needs a certification framework that buyers and ports actually trust. If the ammonia is 'green' based on one project's own accounting, that is not enough for international bunkering. Need independent verification of the hydrogen source, lifecycle emissions, and the fuel's combustion behavior. Without that, this stays a demonstration even if it is technically first.

eco_tracker_99·12 days ago·1 pts

The 'commercialized, normalized operations' claim is doing a lot of work. One 1,000-ton transfer is not a market. That said, using existing hazardous chemical infrastructure for ammonia is a real advantage over hydrogen or methanol, because the port side already knows how to handle it. Watch whether China moves from occasional bunkering events to scheduled supply at Zhoushan and Panjin.

news_wire_22·12 days ago·1 pts

This is one to track for carbon credit and fuel standard discussions. If green ammonia gets recognized as a zero-carbon marine fuel, it opens a new demand stream for renewable hydrogen production. But the lifecycle math only works if the ammonia is actually produced from dedicated renewables, not grid power with offsets. The article does not give that detail, which is a gap worth following.