Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA), a United Arab Emirates-based aluminium producer, has shipped the world’s first bauxite cargo using an LNG-fuelled vessel.

The shipment is carrying bauxite mined by EGA subsidiary Guinea Alumina Corporation to a customer in China. Last year, EGA exported around 14.1 million wet tonnes of bauxite from Guinea. Bauxite is the ore used to make aluminium.

According to an EGA press release, LNG-fuelled ships can achieve up to 28% lower tank-to-wake emissions (downstream emissions) compared with vessels using traditional marine bunker fuel.

An LNG dual-fuelled vessel known as Ubuntu Empathy, operated by Anglo American and chartered by EGA, is carrying the bauxite shipment. It is one of Anglo American’s ten-strong chartered fleet of lower-emission LNG dual-fuelled vessels.

According to EGA, capsize vessels are among the largest bulk cargo carriers in the world, being up to 300m long and 50m wide. The vessels can carry up to 180,000 tonnes of bauxite ore.

Abdulnasser Bin Kalban, CEO of EGA, said: “LNG-fuelled cargos are one way for us to reduce our emissions, and we are proud to pioneer this fuel for shipping bauxite. Our goal is to reach net zero by 2050, including from our supply chain, and help meet the increasing global demand for the low-carbon aluminium.”

According to the press release, in 2023, EGA was the first aluminium producer and first Middle East company to join the global shipping and maritime sustainability initiative, the Sea Cargo Charter.