Australian green energy company Provaris Energy has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with UK-based Northern Marine Management, part of the Stena group of companies.
Under the MoU, Provaris and Northern Marine will develop a Technical Partnership to support the ongoing engineering and development program of Provaris’s first green hydrogen (GH2) carrier vessel, the H2Neo, with Northern Marine bringing over 40 years of naval architecture, marine engineering, regulatory and marine quality assurance and ship management experience to support the development and commercialisation of the H2Neo ship.
Provaris and Northern Marine will 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.
Martin Carolan, MD and CEO of Provaris said: “A partnership with a globally recognised ship manager like Northern Marine is an endorsement of our development for a compressed hydrogen carrier and 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.”
Philip Fullerton, MD Northern Marine said: “We are very pleased to support Provaris Energy on the development and future operation of their innovative 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 world-leading new energy projects, such as the Provaris H2Neo development programme.”
George Mermiris, GM and Director of Northern Marine’s Engineering Consultancy subsidiary Tritec Marine, said: “A project of this significance demands the highest quality of technical service underpinned by extensive experience and meticulous scrutiny. 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.”
Sean McCormack, Ship Management Director, Northern Marine added: “We are delighted to have reached an agreement to support Provaris Energy. Given our breadth of experience and market-leading status in managing some of the most innovative newbuild gas carriers currently deployed in the world fleet, Northern Marine is ideally placed to support Provaris with tailored technical and crew management solutions to ensure the safe operation of their GH2 Carrier Fleet.”
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
Per Roed, Provaris CTO concluded: “The support from Northern Marine to date on our H2Neo development programme 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.”
