In May 2023, the two companies signed a Letter of Intent to partner around the supply, potential distribution, and delivery for consumption of clean ammonia for the Höegh Autoliners’ new Aurora Class PCTC vessels. The twelve Aurora Class vessels will be the world's largest and most environmentally friendly car carriers ever built, equipped to operate on zero-carbon ammonia and methanol.

The partnership follows separate initiatives in both companies in two important parts of the value chain, namely supply and demand.

“This is exactly the type of collaboration that will accelerate a push towards net zero shipping in the deep-sea segment of the industry. For Höegh Autoliners, this represents another step towards full decarbonization of our customers' supply chains, and we are pleased to collaborate with a strong Norwegian global player to meet this goal”, says Andreas Enger, CEO of Höegh Autoliners.

Both companies consider clean ammonia, produced either with renewable energy or from natural gas with CCS, as a future maritime fuel with high potential that will contribute to solving the greenhouse gas emission challenges associated with global maritime transportation. As part of the Letter of Intent, the companies will also consider the supply of blue ammonia where up to 95% of the CO2- emissions are captured and permanently stored.

Members of the First Movers Coalition join forces

Höegh Autoliners and Yara are both members of the First Movers Coalition, a World Economic Forum-backed initiative focused on reducing emissions in the ‘hard-to-abate’ sectors.

The First Movers Coalition was launched during COP-26 in Glasgow in November 2021 and was initiated by the US State Department, through Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry, and the World Economic Forum.

Höegh Autoliners has committed, through its membership in the First Movers Coalition, to powering at least 5% of its deep-sea operations with green ammonia by 2030. The goal is to run its fleet on at least 100,000 metric tons of green ammonia by that same year.

Yara International is one of the founding members of the First Movers Coalition (FMC). Yara has already cut emissions by more than 50% since 2005 and is targeting a further 30% emission cut by 2030. Yara is aiming at climate neutrality in 2050. Yara Clean Ammonia has committed to supply clean ammonia to be used either as fossil-free shipping fuel, decarbonized fertilizers or as a hydrogen carrier.

Aurora Class vessels

With the future of cargo and zero carbon fuels in mind, the Aurora Class vessel is designed for a greener future. Höegh Autoliners is accelerating its decarbonization efforts by building the most environmentally friendly car carrier ever built. The launch of the design of the Aurora Class vessels and the signing of contracts for the delivery of the first twelve Auroras, with the delivery of two every six months starting from H2 of 2024, is another decisive step on Höegh Autoliner's path to zero. The Auroras will be the first in the PCTC segment to receive DNV’s ammonia and methanol-ready notations with the main engine provided by MAN and the bridge system supplied by Kongsberg Maritime.

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