Ammonia-fueled tanker coalition gains new members; now called The Castor Initiative; first tanker by 2025
Little more than a year after a Joint Development Project (JDP) to develop an ammonia-fueled tanker design was launched by LR, MISC Berhad, MAN Energy Solutions and Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI), the partners have been joined by Yara International ASA, a giant Norwegian chemicals company and major ammonia producer, and the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA). The JDP is now named “The Castor Initiative”.
The naming is significant. Castor is the second-brightest star in the Gemini constellation, but actually consists of six stars which appear as one. In a webinar hosted by Randall Krantz, a Senior Project Adviser at the Getting to Zero Coalition, the partners revealed that they are on track to design, build, and commission the world’s first ammonia-fueled tanker by 2025.
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MPA, Yara join ammonia-fuelled tanker initiative February 23, 2021, by Naida Hakirevic
The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) and Norwegian fertilizer company Yara International ASA have joined the ammonia-fuelled tanker project launched a year ago.
In January 2020, Malaysia’s shipping group MISC Berhad, South Korean shipbuilder Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI), UK’s classification society Lloyd’s Register (LR) and Germany’s engine manufacturer MAN Energy Solutions decided to work together on the joint development project (JDP). Related Article
Now, the JDP partners also unveiled the name of the expanded coalition – The Castor Initiative.
“This JDP has come a long way since our inception in January 2020 and it now stands complete as The Castor Initiative… We are certainly excited with the expansion of the alliance and look forward to unlocking new possibilities to accomplish our GHG aspirations ahead o
Posted: 5 months ago
“We are pleased to add on another significant chapter at the start of 2021 with Seri Everest’s first loading which is a historic one indeed, given that this accomplishment marked the first cargo loading for the largest VLEC of its kind currently operating in the market,”
Yee Yang Chien, MISC’s President & Group Chief Executive Officer, commented.
“I believe this is the start to many achievements ahead in serving the market needs for ethane. The steady increase in trading volumes has allowed us to gain the first mover advantage as our vessels offer more cargo capacity to accommodate production growth.”
Second VLEC newbuild joins MISC January 7, 2021, by Naida Hakirevic
MISC Berhad, a Malaysia-based provider of energy-related maritime solutions and services, has taken delivery of Seri Erlang, its second very large ethane carrier (VLEC) at the Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) shipyard in Geoje, South Korea.
Image Courtesy: MISC
The 98,000 cbm newbuild is the second of the six VLECs acquired by MISC in July 2020. With this purchase, the company entered the global ethane market. Related Article
All six units are purpose-built for long-term charter to Zhejiang Satellite Petrochemical Co. Ltd. Seri Erlang will join its sister vessel, Seri Everest, to transport ethane from the U.S. to China to support STL’s ethane cracker facility in China. Both VLECs are managed by MISC’s ship management arm, Eaglestar Shipmanagement Gas (S) Pte. Ltd. The first newbuild was handed over to MISC in late October 2020.