OCI Global and Victrol have entered a partnership to develop a refrigerated clean ammonia bunkering supply chain across the Netherlands and Belgium in a step that will establish Rotterdam as a central hub for low-carbon marine fuels.
Under a newly signed memorandum of understanding, OCI’s subsidiary, OCI Ammonia Distribution, will lead the sourcing and import of clean ammonia (both blue and green) from production hubs in the United States, Middle East, North Africa, and Asia. The fuel will be shipped to OCI’s Terminal Europoort (OTE) in the Port of Rotterdam, where it will be stored and distributed for maritime and industrial use.
The OTE terminal is currently the only independent large-scale ammonia import facility in Rotterdam. It has permits in place to expand its storage capacity from 30,000 to 90,000 tonnes, with throughput potential of up to 2 million tonnes per year. The development aligns with OCI’s broader strategy to support the uptake of clean fuels across Europe and meet growing demand from shipowners transitioning to low-carbon operations.
Victrol will design, build, and operate a dedicated liquid ammonia bunker barge to supply refrigerated fuel directly to vessels within port areas and to inland industrial users. Drawing on its experience in LNG bunkering and inland shipping logistics, the company will manage operations in line with the highest safety and reliability standards.
The collaboration follows the Port of Rotterdam’s first ship-to-ship ammonia bunkering trial in April 2025, which raised the port’s ammonia readiness to level 7 under the International Port Readiness Framework. Both OCI and Victrol played a central role in that pilot. The partners are now working with the port authority and national regulators to finalise the safety and technical frameworks needed for commercial deployment.
Matthijs van Doorn, Vice President Commercial at the Port of Rotterdam Authority, said: ‘The port of Rotterdam is preparing for a multi-fuel future to decarbonise global shipping, with ammonia as one of the key future fuels. It is great to see this strategic partnership develop after the successful ammonia bunkering pilot in April 2025. Such collaborations are instrumental to creating safe and sustainable supply chains and are key for Rotterdam to advance its preparedness for ammonia bunkering.’
OCI is also building partnerships with shipowners and end-users to support the uptake of ammonia as part of a broader clean fuel portfolio. Aviv Bar Tal, Global Vice President at OCI, said: ‘Ammonia is essential to the energy transition – the most scalable, policy-backed, and commercially viable clean hydrogen solution available today. The combination of OCI’s sourcing network, import terminal, and end-user partnerships with Victrol’s expertise in bunkering infrastructure is creating Europe’s first end-to-end ammonia fuel supply chain.’
