Australian mining giant Fortescue has signed an agreement with Belgian shipping and cleantech group CMB.TECH to charter up to 12 ammonia capable Newcastlemax bulk carriers, one of the largest commercial commitments yet to ammonia as a marine fuel. The deal covers 12 dry bulk vessels of 210,000 deadweight tons each, to be operated by CMB.TECH dry bulk unit Bocimar.
Up to three ships will be delivered with dual fuel ammonia engines and are expected to enter service by the end of 2026. The remaining nine will arrive ammonia ready, with hardware for a later conversion to run on the fuel. Fortescue estimates that, if powered by green ammonia, the fleet could cut carbon dioxide emissions by roughly 250,000 metric tons a year compared with vessels burning conventional bunker fuel.
The agreement builds on a longer relationship between the two companies and on Fortescue work aboard the Fortescue Green Pioneer, a converted offshore support vessel that completed the world first commercial use of ammonia as a marine fuel in the Port of Singapore in March 2024. That seven week trial, run with the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore, used a blend of ammonia and diesel after two of the ship four engines were retrofitted, and earned a Gas Fueled Ammonia notation from class society DNV.
CMB.TECH chief executive Alexander Saverys said the order sends a signal that maritime can decarbonize at scale even as doubts grow about the pace of the energy transition. Fortescue director of integrated operations Katie Charuga framed the move as a step from talk to action, calling green ammonia one of the clearest pathways to reducing shipping emissions.
For owners and charterers, the package matters because it puts real tonnage behind a fuel that has so far been confined to demonstration projects. Ammonia carries no carbon at the point of combustion and, when produced with renewable power, offers a near zero emissions pathway for deep sea shipping. The open questions are familiar ones: fuel availability, cost relative to very low sulfur fuel oil, toxicity and safety standards, and the build out of bunkering infrastructure at major dry bulk load ports.