Ammonia as Fuel - Competencies and Training

Ammonia holds promise as a scalable alternative maritime fuel that can help drive shipping’s green transition. However, implementation of ammonia as a maritime fuel presents hazards such as toxicity, material incompatibility, and fire/explosion risks. Seafarers and others across the shipping industry will require new skills, competencies and training to manage the safety risks associated with ammonia as fuel.

The industry now faces challenges including:

• Identifying the specific new competency and training requirements
• Designing and rolling out new training
• Ensuring that the new requirements are properly integrated with appropriate regulatory frameworks

A collaborative project led by the Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller Center for Zero Carbon Shipping and the LR Maritime Decarb Hub originated three reports that will help these industry stakeholders meet these challenges. The project has systematically identified competency and training requirements that will support the safe implementation of ammonia as a marine fuel.

This knowledge is being shared in:

1. A detailed technical report introducing a proposed overall framework for competency and training standards: aimed at technical teams within regulatory bodies, presents a proposed overall framework for both basic and advanced seafarer training (based on the existing STCW framework).
   
   
2. A detailed technical report on operations, maintenance and emergency response tasks: aimed at ship operators/managers and training organizations, covers detailed training/competency requirements and standards for specific tasks such as identifying and responding to an ammonia leak (goes outside the scope of current STCW regulations).
   
   
3. A project summary report presenting a high-level view of the project’s key takeaway messages and specific calls to action for target stakeholder groups across the maritime industry: outlines the new knowledge, understanding and proficiencies that different stakeholders will need to support safe use of ammonia as a marine fuel, as well as the operational scenarios that will create a need for additional training.
   
   

Achieving safe implementation of ammonia as fuel will require action and collaboration across many different stakeholders, including regulators, shipowners/operators, and training providers. The knowledge shared in this package of reports can help these stakeholders do their part for a safe maritime green transition.

Our key calls to action for stakeholders are:

• Regulators, such as the IMO and flag administrations, must incorporate new competency and training requirements and certification programs into regulations (including but not limited to the STCW framework)
• Shipowners and operators should identify the knowledge and training gaps in their organizations and create plans to fill these gaps
• Training providers should understand new expectations surrounding competencies and training, plan for how to meet expanded training needs, and develop appropriate training methods and programs
• Seafarers should understand the new challenges and training needs raised by ammonia as a marine fuel
  
  

By leveraging the knowledge and calls to action shared in these reports, the shipping industry can help realize a green transition for maritime that puts safety at the center.