PRESS RELEASE

Report Underscores Importance of Pilots andTraining to Accelerate Safe Maritime
Decarbonization
A new heatmap report from MTF assesses the level of current readiness of fossil LNG, biomethanol and green ammonia compared to fossil MGO.
November.22.2022. HOUSTON The Maritime Technologies Forum (MTF) has today
released a comprehensive assessment to compare the feasibility and readiness ofalternative marine fuels.
The assessment applied MTF’s Framework for Assessing Decarbonization Technologies andAlternative Energy Carriers to fossil MGO, fossil LNG, bio-methanol and green ammonia.
The framework covers eight categories of evaluation, including sustainability andenvironmental, safety, security, economic feasibility, regulatory, people, technology statusand engineering. In addition to assessing each fuel based on the relevant criteria, theevaluation also takes into consideration the level of availability of data to support theassessment. Results of the assessment are presented in the form of heatmaps, aiding theidentification of hot spots that are areas requiring more attention, helping guide futureindustry efforts to rapidly decarbonize in support of global ambitions as reiterated at COP 27.
The report found that when bio-methanol and green ammonia are compared to fossil MGOand LNG they perform better in the sustainability and environmental category but score lower
in other key categories, primarily due to the lack of a comparable fuel value chain. As
regulations and research for bio-methanol and green ammonia expand, it is expected they
will become increasingly competitive fuel solutions.
The assessment also found that because bio-methanol and green ammonia lack sufficientdata, more training and pilot projects will be needed to better understand the economic
feasibility of both fuel solutions and to gain practical experience to build a scalable and global
workforce.
Commenting on the report, Knut Arild Hareide, Director General of Shipping and Navigation
at the Norwegian Maritime Authority said:“The anticipated and much needed scaling of handling more hazardous fuels such asliquefied methane, methanol, ammonia but also hydrogen, in liquid or gaseous state,requires competence building and certified training to ensure the safe decarbonisation ofshipping. Working with our colleagues from major class societies and other flag
administrations to apply this framework was an important step forward in helping identify
future priorities and needs for further development.”

Further comments on the report were provided by the publication’s primary author, Georgios
Plevrakis, ABS Vice President for Sustainability, who said:“We are pleased to deliver this report which further underscores the need to collaborate on
training and to conduct pilot projects for alternative fuels if we are going to meet theindustry’s decarbonization goals. Applying MTF’s framework to alternative fuel options
provides a critical snapshot on readiness and identifies the gaps where we need to refine ourfocus and increase our research efforts if we are to develop economic and technologicallyfeasible fuel options.”
Download the full assessment by clicking here.
About MTF
The MTF is a forum of Flag States and Classification Societies established to provide
technical and regulatory expertise to benefit the maritime industry. The role of the Forum is towork together on research which it will publish to the maritime industry and draw onregulatory expertise to be able to offer unbiased advice to the shipping sector. It will seek togive guidance on the use of alternative fuels and increased levels of automation in theindustry. Furthermore, it will allow for the safe testing and adoption of new technologies andit will help shape world-leading regulation.
The Flag State administrations include Maritime Bureau, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure,
Transport and Tourism, Japan; the Norwegian Maritime Authority; and the Maritime andCoastguard Agency, United Kingdom. The Classification Society members are ABS, DNV,
LR and ClassNK.
Issued on behalf of the Maritime Technologies Forum. For more information, pleasecontact
Jesse LashbrookStrategic Marketing DirectorABS
T +1 281 877 6774
M +1 832 906 0459
E jlashbrook@eagle.org