JERA secures shipping capacity for US-Japan ammonia trade

Japanese power generation company JERA has chartered four very large ammonia carriers (VLACs) from two Japanese shipping companies to transport blue ammonia produced by CF Industries in the US.

IMAGE: NYK's dual-fuel LPG/ammonia carrier, Luna Pathfinder. NYK

The company has chartered four 87,000-cbm VLACs, two from Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha (NYK) Bulkship and two from Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL). All four vessels will be equipped with dual-fuel LPG propulsion, allowing them to run on both LPG and conventional marine fuels.

MOL's vessels are expected to be delivered in 2027, JERA said.

CF Industries is developing a 1.4 million mt/year blue ammonia facility in Louisiana in partnership with JERA and Japan's Mitsui Group. The project is expected to use natural gas as feedstock and incorporate carbon capture and storage technology to reduce the ammonia's CO2 emissions.

Construction is scheduled to begin in 2026, with production expected to start in 2029.

Under the project, CF Industries holds a 40% stake, JERA owns 35%, and Mitsui holds the remaining 25%.

JERA plans to transport its share of the output, around 500,000 mt/year, to Japan for use primarily in power and manufacturing sectors.

Mitsui plans to market its share of the production in Europe, Asia and other regions.

The companies have not specified the volume of blue ammonia that will be supplied to the shipping sector, but have indicated that a portion of the output could be allocated to marine fuel use.

"It is expected to be used not only as fuel for power generation but also in various applications, including marine fuel," NYK said.

Mitsui said in 2025 that ammonia could be used as a "next-generation fuel", expanding beyond its traditional applications in fertiliser and chemical production.

By Konica Bhatt

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