Meriaura teams up with Wärtsilä Green NortH2 Energy to build green fuel vessel

Finnish shipowner Meriaura has teamed up with fellow marine technology firm Wärtsilä and sustainable fuel startup Green NortH2 Energy to build a cargo vessel that runs on green ammonia.

The vessel will be ordered and operated by Meriaura, equipped with Wärtsilä’s modular multifuel main engines and Green NortH2 Energy will supply green ammonia fuel. The delivery of the vessel is targeted for 2024 and it is planned to start operating on green ammonia in 2026.

Meriaura said the energy needs of the shipping industry “cannot be met with battery technology”, adding that compared to hydrogen, ammonia can be stored and moved more easily, and its logistical network already exists. Besides ammonia, the vessel designed to trade in the heavy project cargo segment together with Meriaura’s existing open deck carriers, can be powered by bio-oil or marine diesel oil (MDO).

The project is a continuation of the ship development cooperation between Green NortH2 Energy’s parent company Elomatic and Meriaura, which was started to renew lake Saimaa’s traffic. However, Russia’s attack on Ukraine moved the project from lake Saimaa to the sea.

Meriaura currently operates a fleet of 16 vessels claiming it is the first shipping company using biofuels at sea produced in its biofuel plant in Uusikaupunki.

Meanwhile, in Norway, ammonia bulker startup Viridis Bulk Carriers and consortium partners aim to place the first shipbuilding orders by the end of 2022, with deliveries starting in 2024 or 2025 as part of the project called FlexBulk. The project is closely related to the sister-project ‘Ammonia fuel bunkering network’ that Azane Fuel Solutions has set out to establish by 2024, in partnership with compatriot ammonia and fertilizer manufacturer Yara.