For the past several years, the shipping industry's conversation about green fuels has focused mainly on the ship side. Which fuel is best suited to deep-sea shipping? What are the trade-offs between methanol, ammonia, hydrogen, LNG and biofuels? Are the engines mature enough? Are owners ready to order?
But as methanol dual-fuel newbuildings continue to be delivered and ammonia-fuel projects gradually advance, a more practical question is coming into focus: even when the ships are ready, are the ports ready to store, handle and bunker these new fuels?
Two recent developments — one at the Port of Rotterdam and one at Port Hedland in Australia — highlight this shift. The competition around green marine fuels is moving beyond "what fuel the ship burns" and extending to whether ports can supply that fuel safely, reliably and at scale.
Rotterdam: filling the storage and handling gap for methanol
In Europe, Rotterdam has long been one of the world's most important energy and marine fuel hubs. Evos Rotterdam has now launched a methanol and ethanol storage expansion project in the Europoort area, adding five new tanks with a combined capacity of around 67,500 cubic metres, along with a new pumping station and quay facilities. The project is expected to be operational by early 2028.
Methanol is currently considered one of the closest-to-commercial alternative marine fuels. Compared with ammonia and hydrogen, it is a liquid at ambient temperature and pressure, which makes storage and bunkering relatively less demanding, and vessel orders have already been placed at scale. But the true rollout of green methanol depends on the port-side ecosystem — storage tanks, terminals, handling equipment, safety procedures and fuel certification.
Without sufficient port storage and handling capacity, green methanol ships could still face a "ship without green fuel" situation once delivered. Infrastructure investments like the one in Rotterdam are, in effect, building a more stable fuel supply base for the future low-carbon methanol fleet.
Port Hedland: iron-ore trade lanes prepare for ammonia bunkering
Another development worth watching comes from Australia.
Pilbara Ports is advancing preparations for ammonia bunkering at Port Hedland. Port Hedland is one of the world's major iron-ore export ports, with large numbers of bulk carriers sailing from there to Asian markets. If ammonia bunkering can first be established on such large-scale commodity export routes, the demonstration effect would be significant.
This progress is closely tied to the recently signed ammonia-fuel fleet agreement between Fortescue and CMB.TECH. Under the agreement, Fortescue will charter up to twelve 210,000 dwt Newcastlemax bulk carriers from Bocimar, part of the CMB.TECH group. Up to three of these will be fitted with ammonia dual-fuel engines and are expected to enter service before the end of 2026; the remaining nine will be built "ammonia-ready", with the option to be converted to ammonia operation later.
That means Port Hedland is no longer preparing for a long-term hypothesis — it is preparing for real, near-term vessel demand. For ammonia, port-side infrastructure matters even more than it does for methanol. Ammonia is toxic and corrosive and places higher demands on storage, transfer, leak detection, emergency response, crew training and port operating procedures.
The commercial viability of ammonia therefore depends not only on whether the engines can run, but on whether ports can build a safe, compliant and repeatable bunkering system around them. Port Hedland's value is that it could take ammonia beyond "technical validation" and into real trade-lane deployment.
Ship-side demand is rising in parallel
Behind the acceleration on the port side, demand from the ship side is becoming clearer.
In the methanol space, Safe Bulkers recently launched its first methanol dual-fuel bulk carrier, *Kypros Island*, at Tsuneishi Shipbuilding in China. The 81,200 dwt Kamsarmax is scheduled for delivery in October 2026, with a second methanol dual-fuel bulk carrier expected to join the fleet in 2027.
This shows that the application of methanol-fuelled ships is expanding from container vessels into bulk carriers. Historically, demand for methanol-powered fleets has been driven primarily by the major liner companies; now, the dry bulk segment is beginning to move in the same direction. As more ship types adopt methanol, the importance of port-side green methanol supply capability will only grow.
On the ammonia side, Mitsubishi Shipbuilding recently received an order from Hitachi Zosen Marine Engine to supply the MAmmoSS® ammonia fuel handling system for ammonia marine engine bench testing. The system covers ammonia fuel supply, ammonia gas handling and related control equipment, and is designed to be compatible with multiple ammonia engine platforms.
Supporting systems like this do not generate the same headlines as a newbuild order, but they are a critical enabler in taking ammonia-fuelled ships toward genuine commercial operation. An ammonia-fuelled ship is not simply a change of fuel — it involves a full redesign of fuel supply, safety segregation, leak handling, exhaust management and control systems.
Closing thoughts
From Rotterdam's methanol storage expansion to Port Hedland's ammonia bunkering preparations, the industry is sending a clear signal: over the next few years, the real driver of large-scale green fuel adoption will not be any single project or any single ship. It will be whether a closed loop can be formed between fuel production, port storage and handling, ship bunkering and trade-lane operation.
Tecway Maritime continues to follow the development of green hydrogen and its derivatives in shipping and the wider energy transition. Working closely with our clients, we support green fuel resource matching, project cooperation discussions and application-scenario assessment. If you are exploring green hydrogen, green methanol or green ammonia resources, or looking into related project opportunities, please feel free to get in touch with the Tecway maritime team.
References
- Evos: *Evos Rotterdam commences methanol and ethanol expansion project*
- Port of Rotterdam: *Havenbedrijf Rotterdam bouwt kade voor uitbreiding Evos*
- Pilbara Ports: *Pilbara Ports signs MOU with Yara Pilbara on low-carbon ammonia bunkering hub*
- ENGINE: *Pilbara Ports gears up for 2026 ammonia bunkering*
- Fortescue: *Fortescue and CMB.TECH sign agreement to accelerate zero-emissions shipping*
- Mitsubishi Heavy Industries: *Mitsubishi Shipbuilding Receives Order for the MAmmoSS® Ammonia Fuel Handling System*
- Ship & Bunker: *Safe Bulkers Launches First Methanol Dual-Fuel Bulk Carrier*