Hydrogen hits the big time with projects on the rise

While there are more commercially appealing alternative marine fuels available, hydrogen (H2), a highly flammable and odourless gas that in its super-cooled liquid form will propel man’s return to the moon, is possibly the ‘greenest’ to have made significant maritime inroads over the past 12 months.

Landmark vessel announcements, a regulatory breakthrough at the 11th session of the IMO Sub-Committee on Carriage of Cargoes and Containers in London last September, and the first serious infrastructure commitments have combined to give hydrogen the credibility it lacked just two years ago.

Indeed, there are now more than 20 hydrogen ships in operation, with twice that under construction, representing