Maersk Tankers’ plan to enable its new Very Large Ammonia Carriers to run on ammonia has advanced after its RIPPLE retrofit project was selected for EU Innovation Fund support. The selection remains conditional on completion of the grant agreement, according to a company statement carried by Hellenic Shipping News Worldwide. It does not yet amount to a decision to proceed with the vessel conversions.
RIPPLE would install dual-fuel engines so that the carriers could consume ammonia as marine fuel, with the aim of lowering emissions from vessel operations. Maersk Tankers said the retrofits would also require commercial commitments from customers before they could move forward. The statement therefore identifies both grant finalisation and customer backing as conditions for progressing from the proposed project to implementation.
The funding development comes alongside a milestone for the company’s new gas carrier fleet. In its statement dated 22 October 2026, Maersk Tankers said it had celebrated the naming of Jessie Mærsk in Mokpo, South Korea, the previous day. The ship is the second in a series of ten Very Large Ammonia and Gas Carriers, described as VLAC/VLGCs. The company acknowledged contributions from HD Hyundai Samho and its own teams to the naming milestone.
The vessels are designed to carry either LPG or ammonia, while retaining an option for a dual-fuel engine retrofit that would allow future operation on ammonia. That distinction separates their cargo-carrying capability from the proposed change in propulsion: the statement presents ammonia-fuelled operation as a future possibility rather than an existing feature of the fleet.
Maersk Tankers described the ten-ship programme as central to its return to gas shipping and its longer-term role as a vessel owner and operator. It said the fleet would broaden commercial opportunities for both the company and its customers, while potentially supporting wider adoption of ammonia as a shipping fuel.