Provaris Energy, an Australian developer of integrated compressed hydrogen projects, has signed a memorandum of understanding  with UK-based ship management company Northern Marine Management Limited, a member of the Stena AB group of companies

Under the MOU, Provaris and Northern Marine will develop a technical partnership to support the ongoing engineering and development program of the company’s first pure gaseous hydrogen  carrier, the H2Neo, with Northern Marine to support the development and commercialisation of the H2Neo ship.

Provaris and Northern Marine will also review commercial opportunities for a fleet of H2Neo carriers currently under development, to which the parties will then agree on terms for Northern Marine to provide ship management services on a contractual basis.

“A partnership with … Northern Marine is an … indication of the commercial potential as a new class of bulk carrier to support the transport of green fuels, in this case green hydrogen,” Martin Carolan, Managing Director & CEO of Provaris commented.

“We are very pleased to support Provaris Energy on the development and future operation of their … GH2 Carrier. At Northern Marine, we operate at the vanguard of safe and sustainable shipping and relish the opportunity to deploy our operational capability on … new energy projects, such as the Provaris H2Neo development program,” Philip Fullerton, Managing Director of Northern Marine, said.

“It is a privilege to support Provaris Energy with a comprehensive package of engineering, newbuild supervision and further consultancy support to ensure the successful build, approval and deployment of a new type of vessel that will contribute to a more sustainable future for us all,” George Mermiris, General Manager and Director of Tritec Marine, Northern Marine’s Engineering Consultancy subsidiary, noted.

The MOU and partnership will cover specialist technical and operational services to support Provaris’ GH2 Carrier development program, including detailed engineering, class and flag approvals, shipyard selection and newbuild contract, compliance and certification for safety and operations, newbuild supervision, financing, insurance, and operational contracts.

“The support from Northern Marine to date on our H2Neo development program has been great, and I look forward to working closely with their technical and operational experts. The opportunity for Provaris to leverage their global experience and expertise in engineering, approvals, newbuilds and operations will enable the company to have the first H2Neo ship on water and operational in 2026, to support the pipeline of hydrogen export projects we are now developing in Australia and future opportunities now under review in Europe,” Per Roed, Provaris’ Chief Technical Officer, added.

The term of the MOU is 12 months and sets out an agreed schedule of activities across multiple phases of the remaining development of the H2Neo carrier, which is targeting approval for construction in mid-2023.