Green Ships Invest to Design Ammonia-Powered PSV Using Amogy Technology

Norway’s Green Ships Invest is moving forward with plans to develop ammonia-powered dual-fuel electric Platform Supply Vessels, using ammonia technology being developed by U.S.-based startup Amogy. The companies are building on an existing partnership formed in 2023 moving forward with the designs for the first ships, which will be operated by Bourbon Horizon, an offshore partnership between Bourbon and Canadian marine-support specialist Horizon Maritime Services.

Green Ships Invest was launched as a consultancy working with shipowners, shipyards, maritime equipment vendors, sub-sea contractors, and financial institutions, to develop shipping for a greener environment. The company is developing designs including offshore vessels, fast ferries, Ro-pax and cruise ships, and specialized vessels such as drill ships.

They plan to incorporate Amogy’s 200 kW ammonia-to-electric power systems into the design for the electric PSVs. The ships which will be 4,000 dwt and 269 feet (82 meters) in length will be equipped with 2 MW of energy capacity. Green Ships previously reported the ships would be hybrid diesel-electric with the new plan using the ammonia system for its primary energy. Back-up propulsion will use conventional diesel generators fueled with marine gas oil.

Green Ships Invest's concept for the ammonia-powered electric PSV (Green Ships Invest)

Christian Berg, Managing Director of Amogy, called the agreement the next critical milestone in the company’s effort to decarbonize the maritime sector. Amogy is backed by investors including Amazon’s Climate Pledge Fund, Temasek, SK Innovation, Aramco Ventures, Mitsubishi, and AP Ventures. 

Last year, the company announced it had acquired an old tugboat and is working on converting it to demonstrate its ammonia-to-electricity technology. Amogy is one of several projects, which also includes a program underway by Japan’s NYK which is converting its LNG-fueled tug to also be a pioneer in ammonia-fueled propulsion. 

The companies did not offer a timeline for the project but said when completed the ePSV would be operated by Bourbon Horizon. The French offshore leader launched its partnership in 2023 with the Canadian company to provide harsh-environment offshore services in the North Sea and Canada.

Amogy highlights that the global PSV fleet is a strong target market due to the age of the vessels which mostly range between 10 and 20 years. Green Ships which is dedicated to the energy transition believes these vessels will be a critical step towards aligning the sector with the emerging environmental regulations and a model for the industry.

The second stage of the agreement between Green Ships Invest and Amogy anticipates that Green Ship will expand the application with the addition of two more vessels using Amogy’s technology.