A team of Finnish maritime industry partners are developing plans to build a cargo vessel that runs on green ammonia.

Shipping company Meriaura, technology company Wärtsilä and green energy project development company Green NortH2 Energy signed a letter of intent (LOI) to develop the cleaner-burning vessel, which will be ordered and operated by Meriaura and equipped with Wärtsilä’s modular multifuel main engines. Green NortH2 Energy is responsible for supplying green ammonia fuel produced with renewable electricity.

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.

The vessel is scheduled for delivery in 2024 and it is planned to start operating on green ammonia in 2026. The vessel is designed to trade in heavy project cargo segment together with Meriaura’s existing open deck carriers. Besides ammonia, it can be powered by bio oil or MDO.

“This is a natural step in Meriaura’s future fleet portfolio, complementing the fuel mix together with our in-house biofuel (LBO) production. This collaboration supports our ongoing newbuilding program and carbon neutrality goals,” said Jussi Mälkiä, Chairman of Meriaura.

Jussi Ylinen, CEO of Green NortH2 Energy, said, “The contract shows the significance of our green energy project. We are very happy to join forces with such outstanding partners. This is a great way to speed up the green transition, which is no longer a utopia but a reality.”