Eidesvik to retrofit Equinor-bound PSV with ammonia dual-fuel engine

Norwegian offshore vessel owner Eidesvik has announced that it would retrofit the platform supply vessel Viking Energy with a dual-fuel engine able to operate on ammonia.

The PSV has been in service for Equinor for more than 20 years. Launched in 2003, Viking Energy was the first offshore vessel operating on LNG and in 2016 it became the world’s first hybrid supply unit with DNV battery power notation.

Equinor exercised an option to extend the contract for the vessel in July this year. The extension which kicks in in April next year will secure employment for the vessel until the end of the first quarter of 2030, with further extension options attached.

The retrofit is done under the European innovation project Apollo which has been granted €5m ($5.58m) in funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe programme. Equinor will contribute to the financing of the conversion.

Conversion to ammonia operation is planned for the first half of 2026, making Viking Energy the world’s first offshore vessel to adopt this fuel as a primary energy source in a combustion engine.