Tugboat powered by ammonia sails for the first time, showing how to cut emissions from shipping

KINGSTON, N.Y. (AP) — On a tributary of the Hudson River, a tugboat powered by ammonia eased away from the shipyard dock and sailed for the first time to show how the maritime industry can slash planet-warming carbon dioxide emissions.

The tugboat used to run on diesel fuel. The New York-based startup company Amogy bought the 67-year-old ship to switch it to cleanly-made ammonia, a new, carbon-free fuel.

The tugboat’s first sail on Sunday night is a milestone in a race to develop zero-emissions propulsion using renewable fuel. Emissions from shipping have increased over the last decade — to about 3% of the global total according to the United Nations — as vessels have gotten much bigger, delivering more cargo per trip and using immense amounts of fuel oil.

CEO Seonghoon Woo said he launched Amogy with three friends to help the world solve a huge, pressing concern: This backbone of the global economy has not started to transition to clean energy yet.

“Without solving the problem, it’s not going to be possible to make the planet sustainable,” he said. “I don’t think this is the problem of the next generation. This is a really big problem for our generation.”

The friends met while studying at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In their free time during the COVID-19 pandemic, they brainstormed how to power heavy industries cleanly. They launched their startup in November 2020 in a small space at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. The name Amogy comes from combining the words ammonia and energy.

They looked for a boat and found the tug in the Feeney Shipyard in Kingston, New York, languishing without a mission. It could break ice, but little to no ice has formed on that part of the Hudson River in recent years, so it was available for sale.

“It represents how serious the problem is when it comes to climate change,” Woo said. The project, he said, is "not just demonstrating our technology, it’s really going to be telling the story to the world that we have to fix this problem sooner than later.”

They named the tugboat NH3 Kraken, after the chemical formula for ammonia and their method of “cracking” it into hydrogen and nitrogen. Amogy's system uses ammonia to make hydrogen for a fuel cell, making the tug an electric-powered ship. The International Maritime Organization set a target for international shipping to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by, or close to, 2050.

Shipping needs to cut emissions rapidly and there are no solutions widely available today to fully decarbonize deep-sea shipping, according to the Global Maritime Forum, a nonprofit that works closely with the industry. There is a lot of interest in ammonia as an alternative fuel because the molecule doesn’t contain carbon, said Jesse Fahnestock, who leads the forum’s decarbonization work.

Ammonia is widely used for fertilizer, so there is already infrastructure in place for handling and transporting it. Ton for ton, it can hold more energy than hydrogen, and it can be stored and distributed more easily.

“It certainly has the potential to be a main or even the main fuel,” Fahnestock said. “It has a potentially very friendly greenhouse gas footprint.”

Ammonia does have drawbacks. It's toxic. Nearly all of it currently is made from natural gas in a process that is harmful for the climate. And burning it has to be engineered carefully or it, too, yields traces of a powerful greenhouse gas.

Amogy’s technology is different.

The tugboat ran on green ammonia produced by renewable electricity. A 2,000-gallon tank fits in the old fuel tank space, for a 10-to 12-hour day at sea.

It splits liquid ammonia into its constituents, hydrogen and nitrogen, then funnels the hydrogen into a fuel cell that generates electricity for the vessel without carbon emissions. The process does not burn ammonia like a combustion engine would, so it primarily produces nitrogen in its elemental form and water as emissions. The company says there are trace amounts of nitrogen oxides that it's working to completely eliminate.

Amogy first used ammonia to power a drone in 2021, then a tractor in 2022, a semi-truck in 2023, and now the tugboat to prove the technology. Woo said their system is designed to be used on vessels as small as the tugboat and as large as container ships, and could also make electricity on shore to replace diesel generators for data centers, mining and construction, or other heavy industries.

The company has raised about $220 million. Amazon, an enterprise with immense needs for shipping, is among the investors. Nick Ellis, principal of Amazon’s $2 billion Climate Pledge Fund, said the company is excited and impressed by what Amogy is doing. By investing, Amazon can show ship owners and builders it wants its goods delivered with zero emissions, he added.

“Many folks will now get a chance to see and understand how real and promising this technology is, and that it could actually be in container ships or tugboats in a matter of a few years,” he said. “If you would've asked five years ago, I think a lot of people would have thrown up their hands ... And suddenly we have not only a compelling example, but a commercially-viable example. These types of things don’t come by every day.”

Other companies are developing ammonia-powered ships that still use some diesel.

In Singapore in March, Fortescue's Green Pioneer vessel showed how ammonia could be used in combination with diesel as a marine fuel. An ammonia-powered container ship, the Yara Eyde, will be on water in 2026 with an engine running on green ammonia, according to Yara Clean Ammonia. In Japan, the NYK Group converted the tugboat Sakigake to run on ammonia rather than liquified natural gas.

As a next step, Amogy is working with major shipbuilders to bring ammonia power to the maritime sector. South Korean shipbuilder Hanwha Ocean is purchasing its technology. HD Hyundai and Samsung Heavy Industries are working with Amogy on ship designs.

Sangmin Park said that because Amogy has made significant progress in proving ammonia's potential as a clean fuel, “we expect the industry to move towards adoption more quickly.” Park is senior vice president at HD Hyundai subsidiary HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering.

“For the past few years, the industry has recognized the potential of ammonia as a zero-carbon fuel,” Park wrote in an email, “but actually building and sailing the first vessel is a true landmark event.”

McDermott reported from Providence, R.I.

The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

A boat, left, passes by the NH3 Kraken, a tugboat powered by ammonia, Friday, Sept. 13, 2024, in Kingston, N.Y. (AP Photo/Alyssa Goodman)

A worker walks on the NH3 Kraken, a tugboat powered by ammonia, Friday, Sept. 13, 2024, in Kingston, N.Y. (AP Photo/Alyssa Goodman)

Worker gestures from the NH3 Kraken, a tugboat powered by ammonia, Friday, Sept. 13, 2024, in Kingston, N.Y. (AP Photo/Alyssa Goodman)

The tank that will hold ammonia and power the NH3 Kraken sits on the tugboat on Friday, Sept. 13, 2024, in Kingston, N.Y. (AP Photo/Alyssa Goodman)

The tank that will hold ammonia and power the NH3 Kraken sits on the tugboat on Friday, Sept. 13, 2024, in Kingston, N.Y. (AP Photo/Alyssa Goodman)

Abigail Jablansky, head of project management, walks down the stairs on the NH3 Kraken, a tugboat powered by ammonia, Friday, Sept. 13, 2024, in Kingston, N.Y. (AP Photo/Alyssa Goodman)

Abigail Jablansky, head of project management, stands in the captain area of the NH3 Kraken, a tugboat powered by ammonia, Friday, Sept. 13, 2024, in Kingston, N.Y. (AP Photo/Alyssa Goodman)

A worker stands near the NH3 Kraken, a tugboat powered by ammonia, on Friday, Sept. 13, 2024, in Kingston, N.Y. (AP Photo/Alyssa Goodman)

Israel launched hundreds of airstrikes in southern and eastern Lebanon on Monday, killing more than 270 people, as the Israeli military called on residents to immediately evacuate places where it claimed the Hezbollah militant group stores weapons.

Thousands of people fled southern Lebanon, jamming the main highway to Beirut. More than 1,000 other people were injured in the strikes, the Health Ministry said.

The Israeli military said it hit more than 800 targets Monday linked to Hezbollah weapons sites. It said it was expanding the operation to include areas of the Bekaa Valley, along Lebanon’s eastern border.

Residents of different villages in southern Lebanon posted photos on social media that they said showed their towns that were being struck.

The wave of airstrikes came after a day after Hezbollah fired over 100 rockets into northern Israel, with some landing near the city of Haifa.

Hezbollah’s rockets were in response to an Israeli airstrike on a Beirut suburb on Friday that killed a top Hezbollah military commander and more than a dozen members, along with civilians including women and children.

Last week, thousands of communications devices, used mainly by Hezbollah members, exploded in different parts of Lebanon, killing 39 people and wounding nearly 3,000. Lebanon blamed the attacks on Israel, but Israel did not confirm or deny its responsibility.

Here’s the latest:

JERUSALEM — Israel’s prime minister urged Lebanese civilians to heed Israeli calls to evacuate their homes, saying “take this warning seriously.”

Benjamin Netanyahu issued the warning Monday in a videotaped message his office said was aimed at Lebanese civilians. He spoke as Israeli warplanes continued to strike alleged Hezbollah targets in southern and eastern Lebanon.

Earlier Monday, Israel ordered residents in the targeted areas to leave ahead of the airstrikes. Israeli officials say Hezbollah uses civilian areas to hide weapons.

“Please get out of harm’s way now,” Netanyahu said. “Once our operation is finished, you can come back safely to your homes.”

BEIRUT — Lebanese Health Minister Firass Abiad says 274 people have been killed in ongoing Israeli strikes Monday, and more than 1,000 injured.

At a press conference in Beirut, Abiad said thousands of families have been displaced by the attacks. He also said Israeli strikes have hit hospitals, medical centers and ambulances.

The Israeli military announced that it hit some 800 targets Monday, claiming it was going after Hezbollah weapons.

JERUSALEM — Hezbollah launched more than 100 projectiles toward Israel on Monday, the military said, reaching deep into Israel including around the northern city of Haifa and parts of the occupied West Bank.

Most of the missiles were intercepted but two people were lightly injured from falling shrapnel in northern Israel. A number of homes suffered direct hits.

School was canceled in northern Israel on Sunday and Monday and Israelis were instructed to stay close to protected areas.

The Israeli military said they had struck more than 800 Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon and were enlarging the operation to include eastern Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley as well.

According to Lebanon’s Health Ministry, more than 180 people were killed and 700 injured, the deadliest barrage since the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war.

BEIRUT — The U.N. peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon expressed “grave concern" for the safety of civilians in the south following the most intense Israeli bombing campaign since hostilities erupted in October.

“Any further escalation of this dangerous situation could have far-reaching and devastating consequences, not only for those living on both sides of the Blue Line (the border between Lebanon and Israel) but also for the broader region,” it said in a statement.

It added that “attacks on civilians are not only violations of international law but may amount to war crimes.”

Lebanese health officials said more than 180 people have been killed in Israeli airstrikes Monday. It was not immediately clear how many of them were civilians.

The U.N. force, known as UNIFIL, said its commander Lt. Gen. Aroldo Lázaro had contacted Lebanese and Israeli officials to urge de-escalation.

BEIRUT — The death toll in Israeli airstrikes in southern Lebanon has risen to 182 with 727 others wounded, the Lebanese Health Ministry said.

The Lebanese Red Cross told The Associated Press that all ambulance stations across the country have been mobilized, supporting paramedics in southern Lebanon.

Hospitals in the south are struggling with capacity and other units from the Red Cross are helping relocate wounded people to hospitals farther north, officials said.

GAZA CITY — Israeli strikes in Gaza left 24 dead and 60 wounded in the last 24 hours, the Health Ministry in the Palestinian territory said Monday.

The fresh fatalities brought the overall death toll in Gaza since the war began on Oct. 7 to 41,455, and 95,878 wounded, said the ministry, which doesn’t differentiate between combatants and civilians.

Israel launched its campaign vowing to destroy Hamas after the militants launched an attack on southern Israel in which they killed some 1,200 people and abducted 250 others.

JERUSALEM — The Israeli military says it is widening an aerial offensive against what it says are Hezbollah weapons sites in southern and eastern Lebanon.

The military said Monday that it was expanding its airstrikes to include areas of the Bekaa Valley, along Lebanon’s eastern border, after targeting more than 300 sites in southern Lebanon.

Israeli military spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said residents of the Bekaa Valley must immediately evacuate areas where Hezbollah is storing weapons.

BEIRUT — Thousands of people are leaving south Lebanon and heading north after Israel intensified airstrikes on Monday, leaving 100 people dead and hundreds wounded.

In the southern port city of Sidon, the main north-south highway was packed with cars heading north in the direction of the capital Beirut.

Following a Cabinet meeting in Beirut Monday, Minister of Environment Nasser Yassin told reporters that some schools are being prepared in Mount Lebanon to receive those fleeing.

It was the biggest wave of displacement since the summer 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war, when hundreds of thousands fled their homes in the south.

BEIRUT — Lebanese authorities say 100 people have been killed in Israeli airstrikes in what would be the deadliest day in Lebanon in nearly a year of fighting against the Hezbollah militant group.

The Lebanese Health Ministry said more than 400 others were wounded in the strikes in southern Lebanon on Monday.

It said among them were women, children, and paramedics.

BEIRUT — Lebanon’s Health Ministry says a wave of Israeli airstrikes on Monday has killed at least 50 and wounded more than 300 people.

The ministry said that the toll was preliminary as airstrikes intensified around noon and women and children were among the dead.

The airstrikes hit wide areas in southern and northeastern Lebanon. Israel’s military said it struck 300 targets across Lebanon linked to the militant group Hezbollah.

BEIRUT — Lebanon’s caretaker prime minister on Monday called Israel’s wave of airstrikes “a genocide in every sense of the word.”

Najib Mikati made the comments at the start of a Cabinet meeting in Beirut in which he said that Israel’s airstrikes aim to destroy Lebanon’s towns and villages.

Mikati said that the Lebanese government is calling on the United Nations, the U.N. Security Council and world nations to “deter the aggression.”

BEIRUT — Lebanon's state-run National News Agency says Israeli airstrikes on different parts of Lebanon on Monday killed at least one person and wounded others.

The airstrikes hit the heights of the central province of Byblos for the first time since exchanges along the Lebanon-Israel border began in early October, NNA said. A security official confirmed the airstrike in the village of Almat.

Also targeted by the early morning airstrikes were the northeastern Baalbek and Hermel regions where a shepherd was killed and two members of his family were wounded in the fields of the village of Bodai, NNA said. It added that four other people were also wounded in Bodai and were all taken to hospitals in the area.

NNA also said that 11 people were wounded in the southern village of Aitaroun, including 1 in serious condition.

BEIJING — China is urging its citizens in Lebanon and Israel to evacuate or move to safe areas as the conflict between Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah is escalating.

Chinese citizens in Lebanon should take commercial flights to return to China or otherwise leave Lebanon as soon as possible for their own safety, the Consular Department of China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement posted on social media platform WeChat on Monday.

“Those who need to continue to stay in Lebanon should remain highly vigilant, effectively strengthen their security precautions and emergency preparedness and avoid going to high-risk areas and sensitive areas in the south,” the statement read.

On Sunday, the Chinese Embassy in Israel cautioned its citizens in the country to be prepared for any potential attacks including by missiles, rockets and drones. It added that Chinese people were advised against traveling to Israel and entering high-risk areas in the country’s north.

JERUSALEM — The Israeli military has called on people in southern Lebanon to immediately evacuate homes and other buildings where Hezbollah stores weapons and says it is carrying out “extensive strikes” against the militant group.

Monday's announcement was the first warning of its kind in nearly a year of low-level conflict along the border.

Lebanese media reported that residents received text messages urging them to move away from any building where Hezbollah stores arms until further notice.

“If you are in a building housing weapons for Hezbollah, move away from the village until further notice,” the Arabic message reads, according to Lebanese media.

It was not immediately clear how many people would be affected by the Israeli orders. Communities on both sides of the border have largely emptied out because of the near-daily exchanges of fire.

Israel has accused Hezbollah of transforming entire communities in the south into militant bases, with hidden rocket launchers and other infrastructure. That could lead it to wage an especially heavy bombing campaign, even if no ground forces move in.

Israel carried out dozens of airstrikes on southern Lebanon early Monday.

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — Palestinian medical officials say Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip have killed eight Palestinians, including five children.

A girl and her parents were killed in a strike on a school sheltering displaced people in central Gaza early Monday. The girl’s two siblings were wounded.

Israel has struck several such schools-turned-shelters, saying militants hide out in them.

Another strike hit a home near the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in the central town of Deir al-Balah, killing a mother and her four children, aged 4 to 8.

The casualties from both strikes were described in hospital records, and an Associated Press reporter saw the bodies.

Israel says it tries to avoid harming civilians but rarely comments on individual strikes.

Gaza’s Health Ministry says over 41,000 Palestinians have been killed since the start of the war. It does not say how many were fighters. It says a little over half were women and children.

The war began when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting around 250. Around 100 of the captives are still being held in Gaza, and a third of them are believed to be dead.

CANBERRA, Australia — Australia has announced it will provide an additional 10 million Australian dollars ($6.8 million) in aid to Gaza, bringing the total since the Israel-Hamas war began on Oct. 7 last year to AU$82.5 million ($56.2 million).

A government statement said on Monday the new money would focus on women and children. It would be provided through the United Nations Population Fund, a sexual and reproductive health agency, and the U.N. agency responsible for aiding children, UNICEF.

“Australia continues to push for safe, rapid and unimpeded humanitarian assistance to people in desperate need, and for all aid workers to be protected,” the statement said.

MUWASI, Gaza Strip — As the first rain of the cool season starts to fall in the Gaza Strip, displaced Palestinians living in the sprawling Muwasi tent camp are struggling to cope with flooding that is exacerbating the humanitarian crisis.

Some children are entertained by the novelty of walking barefoot in the ankle-deep water, but their parents are less amused. The adults try to save what they can from their family's tents. One mother tries to dry her temporary home with a mop.

“We woke up in the morning to find the tents with rainwater pouring on us, and water from the streets entering on us,” said Rana Goza’t, a displaced person from Gaza City. “This is the beginning of winter. What will happen in the coming days?”

Suhail Al-Barawi, a displaced person from Beit Lahiya, was helping to build sand barriers to prevent more flooding in the camp.

“People wish for rain," he said, "and we say, ‘Oh God, do not give us rain.’”

The nearly yearlong war between Israel and Hamas has displaced 90% of Palestinians in Gaza, according to the United Nations.

Israel’s defense minister says recent attacks on Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon are a step toward facilitating the return of displaced Israelis to their homes in the north of the country.

Speaking Sunday evening after visiting the military’s Northern Command headquarters, Yoav Gallant described the recent air strikes on the southern suburbs of Beirut as “significant, important and powerful.”

He says Israel will take all necessary measures to ensure “the safe return of Israel’s northern communities to their homes.”

Israeli attacks since Friday have killed dozens in Lebanon, including a veteran Hezbollah commander. Hezbollah responded with more than 100 missile attacks in northern Israel early Sunday, sending hundreds of thousands of Israelis into air raid shelters.

Gallant says: “The past week has been the most difficult in the history of Hezbollah’s existence —especially over the past day.”

Residents react as rescuers sift through the rubble, searching for people still missing at the site of Friday's Israeli strike in Beirut's southern suburbs, Monday, Sept. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

The rubble of a building at the site of Friday's Israeli strike in Beirut's southern suburbs, Lebanon, Monday, Sept. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Smoke rises from Israeli airstrikes on villages in the Nabatiyeh district, seen from the southern town of Marjayoun, Lebanon, Monday, Sept. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

Emergency workers use excavators to clear the rubble at the site of Friday's Israeli strike in Beirut's southern suburbs, Lebanon, Monday, Sept. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

A Palestinian child wounded in the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip is treated in a hospital in Deir al-Balah, Monday, Sept. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Palestinians mourn their relatives, including kids killed in the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip, outside a morgue in Deir al-Balah, Gaza, Monday, Sept. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Mourners transport the bodies of their relatives killed in the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip during their funeral in Deir al-Balah, Gaza, Monday, Sept. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Israeli army jeeps move into the West Bank city of Nablus during a raid, Sunday, Sept. 22, 2024,(AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed).

An emergency worker speaks on the phone during rescue efforts at the site of Friday's Israeli strike in Beirut's southern suburb, Sunday, Sept. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

A couple try to salvage some of their belongings from a damaged apartment at the site of Friday's Israeli strike in Beirut's southern suburb, Sunday, Sept. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

A Hezbollah supporter carries a Palestinian flag near a picture of Hezbollah commander Ibrahim Akil, during Akil's funeral procession in Beirut's southern suburb, Sunday, Sept. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

Israeli Iron Dome air defense system fires to intercept rockets that were launched from Lebanon, in northern Israel, Sunday, Sept. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Baz Ratner)

Smoke rises from an Israeli airstrike on Kfar Rouman village, as seen from Marjayoun town, south Lebanon, Monday, Sept. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

Smoke rises from an Israeli airstrike on Khiam village, as seen from Marjayoun town, south Lebanon, Monday, Sept. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

Smoke rises from an Israeli airstrike on Kfar Rouman village, as seen from Marjayoun town, south Lebanon, Monday, Sept. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)