Gas and Heat and RINA to cooperate on ammonia fuelled bunker vessel

23 Jan 2024

A collaboration for the development of an ammonia-fuelled bunker vessel

Gas and Heat, the Italian company leader in the design and construction of cargo handling systems, and RINA, the Inspection, Certification and Engineering consultancy multinational, have signed an agreement for the development of a cargo and fuel gas system for an ammonia fuelled bunker vessel. Within this agreement, Gas and Heat will develop the basic design of the system and RINA will carry out the compliance assessment of the design as part of the wider Approval in Principle process.

While shipping currently represents approximately 3% of the global GHG emissions, dynamic targets on carbon emissions reduction have been already set for the marine sector by IMO and European Union. Amongst the solutions under analysis, ammonia has great potential to play a very important role in the medium term. The ammonia combustion process has been extensively researched by the leading engine manufacturers and the delivery of ammonia fuelled engines to shipbuilding is likely to happen within this year.

Giuseppe Zagaria, Marine Italy Technical Director at RINA, commented: “RINA and Gas and Heat are both driven by innovation and have a long history of cooperation on unique projects. The agreement represents a further step in this direction, allowing the integration of know-how and the delivery to the shipping industry of those technical insights and solutions that are much needed in this time of change. We do believe that a fleet of innovative bunker vessels, as part of the sea logistics, will boost the use of alternative fuels.”

“We are excited to announce the collaboration with RINA on this cargo and fuel system for a bunker vessel project. By applying our know-how in the cryogenic gas transportation, we could deliver turnkey systems for the ammonia bunkering market” says Claudio Evangelisti, CEO, Gas and Heat Italy.