WinGD announces delivery of world’s first ammonia-fueled ship
10 June 2026
WinGD announced the delivery of the world’s first ocean-going ship designed to operate on ammonia fuel. The vessel, Antwerpen, delivered to Belgian gas shipowner Exmar, is a 46,000 m3 LPG/ammonia carrier powered by WinGD’s X52DF-A ammonia-fueled engine.
The ammonia-fueled vessel has been developed through a collaboration between WinGD, Exmar, engine builder HD Hyundai Engine Machinery Division (HHI EMD) and shipyard HD Hyundai Heavy Industries. This is the first ship in a series of four newbuild ammonia dual-fuel midsize gas carriers, for Exmar, each to be named after a Belgian city.
The ongoing results from real world operation of the Antwerpen will help build confidence in ammonia as a future marine fuel, WinGD said in a news release. The adoption of ammonia fuel is driven by the shipping decarbonization goals. According to some opinions, in the future, zero-carbon ammonia will be produced using renewable energy. Currently, commercial ammonia—produced predominantly from natural gas—carries substantial life cycle CO2eq emissions.
The X-DF-A two-stroke engine features high-pressure ammonia injection supplemented by a low, targeted pilot fuel dose of around 5% at full load. Type Approval Testing (TAT) and Factory Acceptance Testing (FAT) was completed in January 2026. Sea trials of the Antwerpen in South Korea confirmed that the engine delivers load handling, dynamic response and fuel efficiency on par with WinGD’s equivalent diesel-fueled X-Engines in both ammonia and diesel operating modes, according to the company.
WinGD has already received 40 orders for the X-DF-A engine across multiple vessel segments, including gas and bulk carriers, tankers, and container vessels.
Source: WinGD