Geogas' New LPG Carriers Are ‘Ammonia Prepared’

A pair of 40,000-cubic-meter-capacity liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) carriers being built for Geogas at Hyundai Mipo Dockyard (HMD) in South Korea are the first to received Bureau Veritas’ (BV) ‘ammonia prepared’ notation, the classification society said on Wednesday.

The HMD hull numbers are 8350 and 8351 and the first delivery will be in June 2023.

Ammonia-prepared is applicable to newbuildings, and was developed to support ship owners, designers, shipyards and charterers. Ammonia-Prepared certifies that a ship has been designed and constructed to be converted at a later date to use ammonia as fuel. The notation targets the spaces and structural components that will accommodate future ammonia fuel tanks, fuel handling equipment and ammonia vapor treatment installations. Ammonia-Prepared also covers specific requirements for the conversion of engines and boilers from using fuel oil, LNG or multiple fuels to ammonia.

Ulrik Dan Frorup, Chief Commercial Director, Bureau Veritas M&O, said, "It’s great to confirm this project for the first ships that will receive our ‘Ammonia Prepared’ notation. BV was among the first class societies to develop such classification rules for future installation/conversion of ammonia propulsion. The expertise that we have developed in risk methodology and our track record in LNG as a marine fuel has supported our ability to develop these rules for new low carbon fuels like ammonia. Ammonia presents specific safety issues related to its toxicity that have to be addressed. The industry leadership we have shown in multi-stakeholder hazard identification (HAZID) and hazard operations (HAZOP) projects has supported the development of our rules and notations for ammonia as fuel."

Mark Etcheberry, General Director at Geogas, said, “LPG carriers are frequently used to carry ammonia. From a technical point of view this makes the design suitable to be prepared to burn ammonia as a fuel. At Geogas we are committed in our ESG objectives to promote greener propulsion technologies that are technically feasible. LPG, LNG and ammonia gas fuels support these objectives.”

Bureau Veritas has also developed new rules for ammonia fueled ships designed to be applied to newbuildings that will use ammonia as a fuel from delivery. BV Rule Note NR 671 for ammonia as fuel addresses the safety aspects of managing ammonia in storage tanks, fuel-piping systems and during bunkering. NR 671 was published in its earliest form on July 1, 2021 along with the requirements for the Ammonia Prepared notation.