HGK Shipping Achieves Milestone for Europe’s Inland Shipping

With the construction of a completely new type of ship, HGK Shipping sets another milestone for Europe’s inland shipping. The planned newbuild, named “Pioneer,” will be equipped with a forward-looking tank and loading system technology. This enables the transport of gases in both cryogenic and pressurized liquid forms. In a time when the future of energy supply is being shaped, the ship sets new standards for the safe and efficient transport of the important energy carrier ammonia from “green” hydrogen. Additionally, the concept allows for the removal of unavoidable carbon dioxide.

(Köln/Duisburg) As an industry leader, HGK Shipping supports European efforts for the decarbonization of the economy and society with the anticipated construction of this revolutionary ship series. With these models, the company creates an improved transport offering for cryogenic ammonia (NH₃) and liquefied carbon dioxide (LCO₂) on waterways.

Powerful Transport Alternatives

“With this innovative type of ship, we are already paving the way for the logistical requirements of a future-oriented inland shipping sector,” explains Steffen Bauer, CEO of HGK Shipping, outlining the plans of Europe’s largest inland shipping company. “The projected transport volumes for hydrogen and its derivatives such as ammonia, as well as for liquefied carbon dioxide, cannot solely be transported via pipelines. For this reason, we want to offer the market powerful transport alternatives via the waterway transport mode.”

The ship concept of HGK Shipping focuses on the most important transport goods for the success of the energy transition regarding supply and disposal. Currently, a gas like ammonia can only be transported in inland shipping in a pressurized liquid form from the ports to the hinterland. With the new construction project, whose technology is also designed for coastal motor ships, this will be done in cryogenic form, at temperatures of up to minus 33 degrees Celsius. This also eliminates complex handling processes in the ports, which have previously been associated with energy-intensive heating. The ship type has been specifically developed for traffic between the ARA ports and the Rhineland hinterland. With dimensions of 135 meters in length and 17.5 meters in width, the newbuild can transport significantly more volume compared to today’s gas tank ships.

Anke Bestmann, Business Unit Director Gas Shipping at HGK Shipping, emphasizes: “Our decades of expertise in the transport of pressurized liquefied gases is now expanded thanks to this innovative solution to include the possibility of transporting them in cryogenic state. This strengthens our market position in European gas tank shipping.”

Removal of Unavoidable Carbon Dioxide Quantities

The concept provides that the novel ships can also transport the partially unavoidable carbon dioxide quantities from industrial production sites – in liquid form, as LCO₂. In factories and ports, handling and storage capacities are currently being created using the CCS methodology (which stands for Carbon Dioxide Capture and Storage) for the intended geological storage of carbon dioxide at suitable locations, including depleted oil reservoirs and natural gas storage sites.

Result of Intensive Development Work

“The innovative tank and loading system for this special type of ship is the result of intensive development work in collaboration with international partners from maritime shipping and our own design center,” says Tim Gödde, Business Unit Director Ship Management at HGK Shipping. “The technical innovations already used in previous new builds, such as the diesel-electric drive concept and the low-water construction method, will also be integrated into the new model type.”

Photo: © HGK Shipping