Ammonia could pose ‘intolerable’ safety risks without design changes, reports find

Two studies into the safety of alternative low-emission marine fuels highlight some alarming high-risk results for ammonia.

A Bureau Veritas report in collaboration with TotalEnergies aimed at derisking the use of ammonia, with a specific focus on leak mitigation and treatment, pointed to its toxicity posing several challenges.

And a Together in Safety report, distributed by Lloyd’s Register, evaluating the potential operational risks of LNG, methanol, hydrogen and ammonia, found that although ammonia scored “broadly acceptable” risk as a potential source of ignition, some of its risks were classified as high or “intolerable”.