The world's largest car-carrier ship to run on emission-free ammonia fuel has been built by a Chinese-Norwegian consortium.
Norway's Höegh Autoliners will transport cars around the world aboard 12 new flagship vessels built at China Merchants Heavy Industry in Jiangsu. Shipping currently accounts for around three percent of all global emissions, with 90 percent of shipping emissions coming from deep-sea transportation.
The first Aurora vessel, Höegh Aurora, has begun commercial operations, running on liquefied gas. When it switches to ammonia in 2027, the project will revolutionize the heavily polluting freight sector.
Höegh Autoliners will transport cars aboard 12 new flagship vessels. /Höegh Autoliners
"It is the largest and most environmentally friendly car-carrier ever built," Höegh CEO Andreas Enger told CGTN. "It is in a way defining a new era of vessels."
He added: "When we ordered, there was nothing like it in the order book."
When the switch to the new fuel comes in three years' time, the new vessel type will require two huge fuel tanks in order to carry a sufficient amount of ammonia for long-distance journeys.
Special safety mechanisms are needed to avoid leakage during storage, as ammonia can be highly toxic. When burned as a fuel, however, the combination of hydrogen and nitrogen - the component parts of ammonia - is completely emission-free.
"The whole value chain from producing the fuel and then using it will have no emissions," said Lise Winther, senior vice president at Yara Clean Ammonia. The Oslo-based company calls itself the world's largest ammonia distributor.
Journeys will cost $100 more per car when the ships use ammonia rather than fossil fuels. /Höegh Autoliners
But the zero-emission fuel comes at a price. A car transported with ammonia between continents costs $100 more than with fossil fuels.
Höegh's CEO Enger says that for ammonia ships to really take off, carbon taxes and incentives are needed to equalize the cost between low-carbon and regular fuels.
"Without those types of regulations I think we will continue to use traditional fossil fuels for a long time," he said.
For now, the $1.3 billion project, mainly financed by Chinese investors, is setting new standards in Norwegian-Chinese cooperation.
"It will be impossible to reach the climate goals without China playing a very important part in that transition," Norway's Deputy Foreign Minister Andreas Kravik told CGTN. "So we have a very strong interest in collaborating with China."
Several other companies from the Scandinavian kingdom have started to build their ships in China. It's an exchange of knowhow and construction ability which could have a big impact on the future of sea transport.
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