News

The frontrunner for over 10 years in publishing industry best practices, technical publications and safety guidance on the use of liquefied natural gas (LNG) as a marine fuel, SGMF again takes the lead in guiding the industry in the use of low and zero carbon fuels, with the release of the Bunkering Guidelines for Ammonia and Bunkering Guidelines for Methanol, as well as the Emergency Response Guide for Ammonia.

During SiBCON (Singapore International Bunkering Conference and Exhibition), the world’s largest and most influential annual conference for the bunkering industry, SGMF not only launched the three publications, but also revealed its new brand reflecting the organisation’s current activities in the four key marine fuels for the future: LNG, methanol, ammonia and hydrogen.

SiBCON was carefully selected as the right opportunity for the launch, as it’s exactly 10 years since the world launch of SGMF at SIBCON 2014. While the search for the perfect alternative fuel continues, methanol and ammonia are two of the fuels that the global merchant fleet has identified and is looking to implement, emphasising the importance of these guidelines.

Methanol – With the first vessels already running on methanol, and many more on order, methanol is ahead of the curve in terms of adoption. It has also overtaken regulation, meaning that these early adopters are having to put forward safety solutions that have not yet been documented, and bunker suppliers using existing chemical carriers are trying to second guess what conversion and equipment may be needed to make their vessels physically compatible with the ships being produced. These methanol bunkering guidelines have been published as a first draft to highlight the key safety factors that need to be considered when designing and bunkering a vessel of any type with methanol.

Ammonia – Despite ammonia (NH₃) not yet being commercially available as a marine fuel, this bunkering document provides guidance to all the stakeholders currently investigating and developing the bunkering of ships with fully refrigerated (-33°C) ammonia.

A range of potential hazards are expected with bunkering ammonia and to date there is very limited experience, with only one series of bunkering trials conducted as at March 2024. As a result, Bunkering Guidelines for Ammonia draws primarily on the current experience of LNG bunkering, the wider ammonia marine transport industry and the shoreside ammonia production and transport industry experience.

The overall aim of these guidelines is therefore to ensure that ammonia-fuelled ships are bunkered safely, reliably, efficiently and in an environmentally responsible way, targeting the avoidance of operational or fugitive emissions of ammonia.

The bunkering guidelines are available in the shop on our portal and the Emergency Response Guide for Ammonia can be downloaded through our free resources section.

These publications have been compiled with extensive input from the SGMF membership, as well as with collaborative support from the Global Centre for Maritime Decarbonisation (GCMD) and the Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller Center for Zero Carbon Shipping (MMMCZCS)