At present, with the continuous deepening of global energy transformation, the shipping industry is ushering in a new era characterized by green, low-carbon, and sustainable development. In this context, ammonia-fuelled ship is gradually becoming a new star in the shipping industry by virtue of its unique environmental protection advantages and development potential.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) has predicted in its updated "Net Zero Roadmap" for 2023 that ammonia fuel will play a key role in the decarbonization of the global shipping industry. By 2050, international shipping activities will more than double, the share of ammonia in final energy consumption will increase from 0% in 2022 to 44% in 2050, with biofuels and hydrogen fuels each accounting for 19%, while the highly-anticipated methanol will only account for 3%. According to the research findings of the Environmental Change Institute (ECI) of the Oxford University, ammonia fuel may be a feasible option to facilitate the decarbonization of international shipping industry by 2050. The green ammonia can meet over 60% of the global shipping fuel demand by targeting just the top ten regional bunkering ports.

Nowadays, countries around the world are accelerating the exploration of "new solutions" for clean energy, and intensifying the planning and deployment of the ammonia fuel industry, and ammonia fuel has entered an accelerated period of development.

In 2022, the National Development and Reform Commission and the National Energy Administration of the People's Republic of China jointly released the "Medium and Long-term Plan for the Development of Hydrogen Energy Industry (2021-2035)" to actively promote the demonstration project of ammonia-fuelled vessels; the United States Department of Energy has made a macro planning for renewable energy, and focused on developing more than ten green ammonia projects to promote the rapid development of the green ammonia industry in the commercial sector; at the fourth EU hydrogen energy network conference, it was proposed to increase the production of green ammonia and make it one of the trading systems for hydrogen energy. Currently, it is carrying out the research on the synthesis of green ammonia from green hydrogen, and making engineering demonstration of green ammonia in the transportation and industrial fields; Japan has developed rapidly in ammonia co-combustion technology, proposed the "ammonia economy", and planned to achieve "pure ammonia power generation" by 2050, and complete the demonstration of pure ammonia-fueled vessels by 2025, and promote their application after 2025; South Korea has taken 2022 as the "First Year of Ammonia Power Generation", and planned to commercialize ammonia fuel power generation from 2030; Australia has fully utilized "photovoltaic hydrogen production technology" to produce green hydrogen for synthetic ammonia, and also vigorously expanded ammonia energy trade to transport ammonia to South Korea and Japan by sea; Saudi Arabia has announced a $5 billion investment to build a 4MW green ammonia plant, which is expected to be put into operation by 2025 and export green ammonia globally.

In the shipping industry, faced with significant opportunities in the trillion dollar marine fuel market, shipping giants including COSCO SHIPPING, Maersk, CMA-CGM, Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC), Hapag-Lloyd, Ocean Network Express (ONE), Evergreen Marine, etc. have got involved in the application of ammonia fuel to boost the rapid development of ammonia-fuelled ships.

In recent years, as an important technical support force to promote the safety, environmental protection, and sustainable development of the global shipping, shipbuilding, and related industries, China Classification Society (CCS) has been among the early movers to conduct research on ammonia-fuelled vessels, and its research scope covers the key links in the entire industry chain including ammonia fuel preparation, transportation, water application, etc. CCS has also participated in multiple R&D projects related to ammonia-fuelled vessels and demonstration applications, and formulated the "Guidelines for Ships Using Ammonia Fuel". Currently, CCS has established a comprehensive scientific research and service system with respect to the establishment of rules and standards, approval of ships and systems, risk analysis, carbon intensity assessment, etc., playing a positive role in promoting the safe development of ammonia-fuelled vessels and the application of clean energy on water.

Although ammonia-fuelled ship has broad development prospects, there are still some challenges for its future development, for example, multiple challenges may exist in the uptake by international shipping, including cost, safety, infrastructure, regulatory framework, technological maturity, market acceptance, etc. These challenges need to be addressed through global cooperation, technological innovation, policy support and investment, so as to achieve widespread application of ammonia-fuelled vessels in the global shipping industry.

At this point, CCS is willing to work together with the industry to promote the safety, environmental protection, and sustainable development of ammonia-fuelled ships.