Japan’s Mitsui OSK Lines (MOL) and Belgium’s CMB.TECH have partnered up to jointly own and charter nine landmark newbuildings that can run on ammonia fuel. The Tokyo-based shipping giant said the deal with its Antwerp-headquartered peer covers three ammonia dual-fuel newcastlemax bulkers, and six chemical tankers, two of which will be ammonia dual-fuel, while the remaining four will be ammonia-ready. These will be the world’s first ammonia dual-fuel capes and chemical tankers, MOL said in a release on Monday. The newcastlemax trio will be built at CSSC Qingdao Beihai Shipbuilding and delivered between 2026 and 2027. The ships will be jointly owned by CMB.TECH and MOL and chartered to MOL for 12 years each. The chemical tankers will be constructed at China Merchants Jinling Shipyard (Yangzhou) Dingheng, with delivery scheduled for 2028 and 2029. The newbuilds will be chartered by MOL Chemical Tankers between seven and 10 years. Commenting on the deal, Alexander Saverys, CEO of CMB.TECH said: ”MOL and CMB.TECH share the same vision of decarbonising the maritime industry, and the partnership for these nine vessels is a major milestone towards achieving shipping industry’s goals of net zero emissions by 2050,” adding that the agreement lifts the company’s contract backlog by $921m to nearly $3bn. googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1_95_0_1_2'); }); TagsBelgium Japan