IN Brief:
- Ulsan Port supplied around 600 tonnes of ammonia to a 45K-class ammonia dual-fuel vessel.
- The operation involved Ulsan Port Authority, Lotte Fine Chemical, HD Hyundai Heavy Industries, HMM, and Korean Register.
- The trial strengthens Ulsan’s role in multi-fuel port infrastructure for low-carbon shipping.
Ulsan Port Authority has completed a port-to-ship ammonia bunkering operation for an ammonia dual-fuel gas carrier, adding a practical demonstration point to the shipping industry’s development of lower-carbon marine fuel infrastructure.
The operation took place at Pier 2 of Ulsan Main Port on 23 April, with around 600 tonnes of clean ammonia supplied to a 45K-class vessel built by HD Hyundai Heavy Industries. Lotte Fine Chemical carried out the fuel supply as the designated sustainable marine fuel demonstration operator at the port.
The project forms part of a wider ammonia bunkering programme involving Ulsan Port Authority, Korean Register, Lotte Fine Chemical, HD Hyundai Heavy Industries, and HMM. The partners have worked across regulation, vessel readiness, port infrastructure, safety management, and fuel supply since signing a memorandum of understanding in January 2024.
The operation was supported by authorities including the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, the Ulsan Regional Office of Oceans and Fisheries, and the Ulsan Fire Department. That regulatory and emergency-services involvement is central to ammonia’s route into commercial shipping. The fuel presents a different handling profile from conventional marine fuels, with toxicity, storage, transfer, and crew-safety requirements sitting alongside the decarbonisation case.
Ulsan has already been active in alternative fuel development, including methanol bunkering demonstrations and simultaneous LNG bunkering operations for car carriers. The ammonia operation extends that position from demonstration work into a more integrated port-service model, where fuel availability, trained personnel, vessel compatibility, and safety governance have to mature together.
Shipping lines, shipbuilders, fuel suppliers, and ports are still spreading investment across several possible future fuel pathways. Methanol, LNG, biofuels, hydrogen derivatives, and ammonia are all competing for capital, regulation, and operating experience. Ammonia’s attraction lies in its potential as a zero-carbon fuel at the point of use, although its full emissions profile depends on how the ammonia is produced, transported, and stored.
The port infrastructure challenge reaches beyond installing new tanks or transfer systems. Bunkering must fit around berth windows, cargo handling, vessel scheduling, emergency planning, and port community systems. Ports that can handle multiple fuel types safely and predictably are likely to gain an advantage as shipowners avoid committing vessels to routes where alternative fuel availability remains uncertain.
Ulsan’s operation gives the market another working data point. The next phase will be shaped by repetition, training, regulatory standardisation, and commercial scale. Ammonia will not become a practical shipping fuel through isolated trials alone; it will need dependable port networks, clear safety regimes, and fuel supply chains capable of supporting scheduled vessel operations.
