EMSA publishes two reports on maritime safety

The European Maritime Safety Agency, whose new mandate^[1] has been recently published in the EU’s Official Journal has released  two relevant reports on maritime safety.

The first report relates to the safety of ammonia. It is the final report of a series of studies^[2] on the safety of ammonia as a marine fuel. The report among others highlights that the “application (of ammonia) as a marine fuel remains largely uncharted“. While the study sees potential for ammonia as a shipping fuel in the long run, it also points out that “its adoption introduces substantial safety and operational challenges, including toxicity, corrosiveness, and the need for specialised fuel systems and engine designs.” Also, the “safe and effective integration of ammonia into marine propulsion systems” can only be successful through “robust safety protocols, regulatory frameworks, and crew training“, the study finds.

The second report^[3] is about the safe transportation of Alternative Fuels road Vehicles on ro-ro vessels. The report, which is the first of a series, has been carried out by the  RISE Research Institutes of Sweden (RISE) and Bureau Veritas Marine & Offshore (BV). The aim of the study is to provide scientific and technical knowledge on the fire safety of Alternative Fuel Vehicles (AFVs) onboard ships. It is also meant to provide recommendations for further industry guidance and input to the development of relevant instruments at the International Maritime Organization (IMO) level.  The report points out that as the number of AFVs increases, there is a growing need of understanding and tackling the challenges of safe transport of the vehicles, where ro-ro ships are an important component.

[1] See revised EMSA Regulation: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=OJ:L_202502434

[2] https://emsa.europa.eu/safety-of-alternative-fuels/ammonia.html

[3] https://emsa.europa.eu/newsroom/latest-news/item/5614-safe-transport-of-afvs-on-ro-ro-ships-study-published.html