HD Hyundai Samho Delivers Maersk's First Very Large Ammonia Carrier

HD Hyundai Samho has delivered its first Very Large Ammonia Carrier (VLAC), the 93,000 cubic metre Jane Maersk, to Danish shipping company Maersk. This was a shipyard handover, not a cargo voyage: the vessel was built at HD Hyundai Samho's yard in South Korea and formally transferred to operator Maersk Tankers, with no ammonia cargo carried on this leg. The vessel is the first of what has been reported as five/ten VLACs ordered by Maersk Tankers in November 2023, with the remaining vessels scheduled for delivery in phases through September 2028.

What Makes This a Different Category of Vessel

Jane Maersk is designed to carry both liquefied ammonia and LPG, and is fitted with specialised safety systems, including a dedicated high-level alarm intended to reduce the risk of misloading, to handle ammonia's higher toxicity, corrosiveness and density compared with conventional LPG cargo. This is a cargo-carrying vessel, transporting ammonia as freight for other buyers and industrial users, distinct from the ammonia-fuelled propulsion vessels, which burns ammonia to power itself rather than carrying it as cargo.

Why Maersk and Mitsui Are Both Behind This Order

The original order was placed by an affiliate of Maersk Tankers, with Mitsui & Co. joining as co-investor in the first four vessels. Maersk Tankers, which re-entered the gas shipping sector in 2023 after selling its previous gas business in 2013, has framed the move explicitly around anticipated growth in seaborne clean ammonia transport, positioning itself ahead of demand from the clean ammonia projects currently under development globally rather than in response to existing trade volumes.

Reading the Delivery Against HD Hyundai Samho's Broader Order Book

This delivery is also a milestone for the shipbuilder specifically: it is HD Hyundai Samho's first VLAC since the company's founding, and the company has secured orders for nine VLACs this year alone, taking its VLAC order backlog to 22 vessels worth approximately USD 2.55 billion. Across all vessel types, the shipbuilder has won orders worth USD 4.08 billion so far this year, putting it at roughly 83% of its annual order target. That order momentum is itself a data point on shipowner sentiment: yards do not build ammonia-carrier backlogs this size speculatively, so the order book reflects genuine, contracted demand from operators betting on ammonia trade growth.

Why Carrier Capacity Is a Distinct Bottleneck From Bunkering

Much of this series' ammonia coverage has focused on bunkering infrastructure, fuelling ships that burn ammonia. Carrying capacity, moving ammonia in bulk from producer to buyer, is a separate constraint entirely. The International Energy Agency projects ammonia could account for roughly 8% of marine fuel demand by 2030 and 46% by 2050, a trajectory that requires both fuelled vessels and carrier capacity to scale together; a fleet of VLACs addresses the transport link specifically; it does not by itself solve bunkering availability or vessel propulsion conversion, which remain separate parts of the same broader ammonia supply chain build-out.

Source: Ship & Bunker, 27-28 July 2026.