Feature, Freight News, Sea

Höegh to Power Aurora-class with Ammonia

[ September 5, 2025   //   Gary Burrows ]

Höegh Autoliners has placed an order for the first-ever ammonia engines for its Aurora-class pure car/truck carriers, or PCTCs, which, at 9,100 car equivalent units (CEU), will be the largest and most environmentally friendly ever built.

The four ME dual-fuel liquid gas injection, or LGIA, engines were designed by Everllence, a provider of large-scale engines for the marine, power generation and industrial sectors. The engines will be built by HD Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. Ltd. will build the engines in South Korea, to be delivered to an undisclosed Asian shipyard.

Höegh, part of the Leif Höegh & Co. shipping company, sees the Aurora Class further accelerating the Norwegian carrier’s decarbonization efforts and setting a new standard for sustainable deep-sea transportation. The Auroras will be the first to be ready to operate zero-carbon ammonia propulsion with the main engine, and to achieve the goal of operating PCTC vessels on zero-carbon fuels by 2027.

“The engines are the beating heart of our vessels,” Autoliners COO Sebjørn Dahl said, “and we take it as a clear mark of confidence that Everllence has chosen us to install some of the world’s first two-stroke ammonia engines on our final four Aurora Class vessels.

Everllence, formerly known as MAN Energy Solutions, has been running its two-stroke ammonia test engine since 2023, and its dual-fueled engines have been in operation more than 10 years.

“This order – one of several ammonia pilot-projects we have in China, Japan and South Korea – gives us encouragement that we are on the right path, as does the widespread industry interest in our progress,” said Bjarne Foldager, Everllence’s head of two-stroke business. The company believes ammonia “will ultimately become one of three major, alternative fuels in the market along with methanol and methane.”

Christian Ludwig, head of two-stroke sales and promotion, said that by end 2206, Everllence expects to have “a small number of demonstration projects on the water to enable a commercial market introduction of the G50-, S60-, G60-, G70- and G80-bore ME-LGIA engines based on positive service experience.”

Tags: Everllence, Höegh & Co., Höegh Autoliners