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SINGAPORE, 6 February 2024 – The journey to decarbonise the shipping industry is complex and still has a lot of challenges ahead. However, despite some scepticism, important progress is being made by many who do not let the perfect be the enemy of the good. This is a philosophy that we embrace fully and that has led us to invest significant funds and resources into green shipping, across a wide range of solutions. For 2023, we are proud to achieve a fleet AER (Annual Emission Ratio) of 3.6gCo2/dwt-mile, below our 2025 target of 4.0g, and 29% below our 2015 emission level.
 
Continuing this journey, last year we took the important decision to invest in new vessels which will transport ammonia or use it as a fuel. We entered into a strategic partnership with MAN to develop ammonia-fueled engines and placed firm orders for vessels. We did not take these decisions lightly. We brainstormed with our partners, conducted extensive research and reached the conclusion that ammonia offers a viable solution to decarbonise not just our fleet but also large onshore industries such as power generation and steel production. This is a view that takes into account both the environmental credentials of ammonia as a fuel and also its present and future availability in grey, blue or green form, as well as the technological and safety challenges associated with the chemical properties of such cargo and/or fuel.
 
However, we also acknowledge that ammonia is still not perfect nor truly a zero-emission solution today. Important questions remain on availability, engine readiness, safety concerns, NOx and N2O emission, the need for pilot fuel and many more. As we work on these challenges, people will point at these possible flows, inevitably creating confusion and possibly misinformation that could slow us down, extending the status-quo. For this reason, we believe that it is important to share how we think about this, where we think efforts are still necessary and why we are hopeful that we are on the right path with ammonia as a fuel.