en.Wedoany.com Reported - Lloyd's Register Maritime Decarbonisation Hub (The Decarb Hub) has released a report calling for a standardized approach to the design and assessment of safe havens on ammonia-fueled ships, noting that the industry has an opportunity to establish an evidence-based shared approach to safe havens. The report emphasizes that the new safe haven requirements introduced by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) Interim Guidelines for the Safety of Ships Using Ammonia as Fuel, being goal-based and setting only high-level objectives, could lead to differing interpretations and consequently divergent safety outcomes.
The report, titled Safe Havens for Ammonia-Fueled Ships, notes that the new guidelines require ships to be equipped with safe havens to protect crew members in the event of an ammonia leak. The report explores how the maritime sector can draw on experience from safety-critical industries such as offshore oil and gas and chemical processing. The research finds that a safe haven should not be viewed as a standalone space solely for protection against ammonia exposure, but rather as a human-centered system that forms part of a ship's overall emergency response strategy.
The report identifies three core functions that every maritime safe haven should fulfill: protection, command and control, and accessibility. Together, these three functions ensure that all crew members are protected from ammonia and other hazards while remaining able to execute the ship's emergency response plan.
The report recommends that safe haven performance should be assessed against realistic worst-case scenarios, drawing on established practices from industries that routinely manage toxic gas hazards. The report also highlights the importance of calculating safe haven endurance duration, assessing accessibility, conducting regular testing and maintenance, and considering human factors to ensure the system continues to perform as intended throughout the ship's operational life.
Jonathan Bolton, Decarbonisation Risk Analyst at Lloyd's Register Maritime Decarbonisation Hub, stated that ammonia has the potential to play a significant role in the maritime decarbonization journey, and its adoption must be supported by robust, practical, and consistently applied safety solutions. The report aims to translate decades of experience from industries that have long managed toxic gas risks into the maritime context, supporting designers, operators, class societies, and regulators in advancing the safe deployment of ammonia-fueled ships by identifying the critical functions a safe haven must perform and proposing a common framework for their assessment. The findings are intended to support owners, designers, regulators, and class societies in developing the first generation of ammonia-fueled ships and to contribute to the long-term evolution of international regulations for ammonia safety.
