The Australian mining conglomerate Fortescue announced that its Fortescue Green Pioneer, the dual-fuelled ammonia-powered vessel, has arrived in London, its first stop on a global tour of ports aimed at fast-tracking international shipping’s transition to green fuels.
On the eve of a gathering of global business leaders orchestrated by His Majesty The King’s Sustainable Markets Initiative (SMI) and Fortescue, Fortescue Green Pioneer docked at Canary Wharf in London.
The 75m-vessel left its Singapore base for its journey to the UK in January and spent before arrival to London six days in the Port of Southampton, where the vessel demonstrated the use of ammonia in its converted engines.
At Southampton she also underwent a Port State Control inspection, the first such inspection for an ammonia-fuelled vessel in the UK, before being given the green light to proceed to Canary Wharf where leading CEOs and VIP guests– joined Fortescue executive chairman and founder Andrew Forrest for a tour of the vessel.
Fortescue Green Pioneer’s UK visit comes at a pivotal moment for the future of global shipping, with the UN International Maritime Organization considering the single most important regulatory change in shipping in a generation. Key IMO meetings in April 2025 will determine whether a global carbon levy is adopted.
The IMO’s mid-term measures will impose legally binding regulations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from ships, with key interim emission reduction targets to be met for 2030 and 2040 on the way to shipping’s complete decarbonisation by 2050.
“No other sector has made a commitment of this scale,” Fortescue said.
Fortescue added that it is advocating for the early adoption of zero emission fuels such as green ammonia, widely accepted as the long-term solution, and the bypassing of transitional fuels such as biofuels and LNG.
While the IMO considers its decision, Fortescue Green Pioneer is expected to travel to several ports around the world to urge them to accelerate their readiness to supply and receive ammonia as a marine fuel alternative. This includes the development of enabling bunker infrastructure and the implementation of necessary safety and operational protocols to support its adoption at scale.
Fortescue executive chairman and founder, Andrew Forrest, said that “Fortescue Green Pioneer embodies the innovative spirit, courage and leadership that is taking Fortescue to Real Zero by 2030, and that the International Maritime Organization must call on that same spirit, courage and leadership to fast-track shipping’s transition to green fuels. This will not only deliver a better future for the planet but accelerate a reduction in shipping costs through the widespread adoption and scaling of renewable energy. There is no time to waste on so-called transitional fuels that will only serve to slow our progress towards a world no longer reliant on fossil fuels.”
The Fortescue Green Pioneer completed in March 2024 the dual-fueled ammonia fuel load and trial in the Port of Singapore, where the vessel also received flag approval from the Singapore Registry of Ships and a “Gas Fueled Ammonia” notation by classification society DNV to use ammonia.
