The World's First Clean Ammonia-Powered Container Ship

Yara Clean Ammonia, North Sea Container Line, and Yara International join forces to realize the world's first container ship that will use clean ammonia as fuel. Named Yara Eyde, the vessel will be the first to sail emission-free sea route between Norway and Germany.

"Yara Eyde will be the world's first container ship running on clean ammonia and is a cross-sector collaboration enabling large-scale emission reductions ahead of the critical 2030 climate targets," says Svein Tore Holsether, President and CEO of Yara International.

First green shipping route to Germany

With global shipping accounting for 706 million tonnes of CO2 emissions last year*, it is imperative that we cooperate across value chains to reach the 1.5°C goal by 2030. Yara International is a founding member of the First Movers Coalition and supports the Green Shipping Challenge. Yara International and Yara Clean Ammonia promote low-carbon solutions across hard-to-abate sectors and clean ammonia as fuel in new and retrofitted zero-emission vessels.
(*Source: International Energy Agency)

Yara Eyde is optimized for the trade corridor between Norway and Germany and will operate between Oslo, Porsgrunn, Hamburg and Bremerhaven. From 2026, Norwegian companies can trade their products emissions-free in and out of Norway. Yara International is participating as cargo-owner. The fertilizer produced in Porsgrunn will be shipped emission-free to Germany, cutting scope 3 emissions with 11,000 tonnes of CO2 per year.

"We see an increasing demand from cargo owners to reduce emissions. Yara Eyde offers competi-tive and emission-free logistics to cargo owners," says Bente Hetland of North Sea Container Line.

Incentivizing low-carbon fuels is key to enable emission cuts in shipping

“To succeed in decarbonizing shipping, low-emission technologies must be brought to commercial scale within the next decade. It is imperative that carriers are incentivized to choose low-carbon fuel,” says Magnus Krogh Ankarstrand, President of Yara Clean Ammonia.

Yara Clean Ammonia AS and North Sea Container Line AS are establishing a joint venture to realize Yara Eyde, while the ship will be operated by NCL Oslofjord AS. The joint venture aims to become the world's first line operator to focus exclusively on ammonia-powered container ships. Enova has awarded Yara Eyde just over NOK 40 million, and the support is decisive for implementing the project.

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"With our industrial DNA from our main shareholder Elkem, North Sea Container Line is very pleased to see Birkeland and Eyde reunite to facilitate a new industrial revolution. The partnership with Yara fits perfectly with our ambitious emissions strategy, and we are pleased to see the com-mitment Yara has shown to reduce emissions," says Hetland.

Clean ammonia cuts emissions from shipping

Maritime transport causes approximately 3% of global CO2 emissions*. Clean ammonia will cut emissions from shipping, enabling emission-free transport of goods across the globe.
(*Source: International Maritime Organisation)

"This unique project takes a major step towards zero-emission supply chains for Yara and demonstrates that clean ammonia will be able to provide cost-effective and environmentally friendly maritime transport. Yara Eyde will demonstrate the maturity of ammonia as a maritime fuel,” says Ankarstrand.

About Yara

Yara grows knowledge to responsibly feed the world and protect the planet. Supporting our vision of a world without hunger and a planet respected, we pursue a strategy of sustainable value growth, promoting climate-friendly crop nutrition and zero-emission energy solutions. Yara’s ambition is focused on growing a nature positive food future that creates value for our customers, shareholders and society at large and delivers a more sustainable food value chain.

To achieve our ambition, we have taken the lead in developing digital farming tools for precision farming and work closely with partners throughout the food value chain to improve the efficiency and sustainability of food production. Through our focus on clean ammonia production, we aim to enable the hydrogen economy, driving a green transition of shipping, fertilizer production and other energy intensive industries.

Founded in 1905 to solve the emerging famine in Europe, Yara has established a unique position as the industry’s only global crop nutrition company. We operate an integrated business model with around 17,000 employees and operations in over 60 countries, with a proven track record of strong returns. In 2022, Yara reported revenues of USD 24 billion.
www.yara.com

About Yara Clean Ammonia

Yara Clean Ammonia is uniquely positioned to enable the hydrogen economy in a market expected to grow substantially over the next decades. We aim at significantly strengthening our leading global position as the world’s largest ammonia distributor, unlocking the green and blue value chains, and driving the development of clean ammonia globally.

Building on Yara’s leading experience within global ammonia production, logistics and trade, Yara Clean Ammonia works towards capturing growth opportunities in low-emission fuel for shipping and power, carbon-free food production and ammonia for industrial applications.

Yara Clean Ammonia operates the largest global ammonia network with 15 ships and has, through Yara, access to 18 ammonia terminals and multiple ammonia production and consumption sites across the world. Revenues and EBITDA for the full year 2022 were USD 4,422 million and USD 249 million respectively. Yara Clean Ammonia is headquartered in Oslo, Norway
www.yaracleanammonia.com

About NCL

North Sea Container Line is the leading container operator between continental ports to West-, North of Norway. Founded in 1998, 27 employees and headquarters in the maritime city of Haugesund. The container line is the largest operator in the Norwegian sailing area with 150.000TEUs and a revenue of 64MEUR in 2021. Main shareholder Elkem ASA.

In NCL’s quest for a more sustainable future two 1300 TEUs methanol-fuelled containerships have been placed in order June 2022 for delivery in 2024. These vessels will sail alongside the West-, and North Norway coastline. This project has been awarded funds from Enova for the electrification measures.

NCL will develop a suitable portfolio of industrial-, Deepsea- and Shortsea- volumes on the import side to complement the large export volumes from Yara Porsgrunn
www.ncl.no