As the maritime industry works to decarbonise, it has made real progress in understanding the technical safety requirements of ammonia-fuelled vessels. However, ammonia's hazard profile – particularly its toxicity – introduces safety challenges that need to be managed throughout a vessel's operating life. Vessel operators with more mature safety management organisations will be better placed to control ammonia’s hazards and to reduce the risk of incidents. Assessing safety management maturity gives operators insight into their ammonia readiness, and a clearer sense of what needs to improve to close any gaps. 

What is the 'Ammonia PSM Maturity Self-Assessment Tool' about? 

The Ammonia PSM Maturity Self-Assessment Tool is a maritime resource that gives shipowners, operators and managers a structured framework to evaluate safety management maturity. It draws on Process Safety Management (PSM) principles already established in industries such as chemical processing and oil and gas, translating a framework built on decades of experience into a tool built specifically for ammonia as marine fuel. 

Assessments using this tool are not pass/fail tests or audits. As best practice for managing ammonia safety is still emerging, the tool is designed as an open but structured exploration, aimed at constructive evaluation rather than compliance checking. It is intended to complement, not replace, existing regulations and safety assurance mechanisms. Organisations can use it to identify gaps, prioritise improvements, and track their own progress over time. 

The tool forms part of the ‘Fuel Safety Frameworks: Ammonia initiative’, developed jointly by the Lloyd’s Register Maritime Decarbonisation Hub (The Decarb Hub) and the Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller Center for Zero Carbon Shipping (MMMCZCS), sitting alongside the Ammonia Competency and Training Practitioner Handbooks. 

What's inside 

The tool is structured in three parts: 

  1. The User Guide: introduces the background, conceptual foundations and practical guidance for using the tool, including suggested assessment strategies for different operator contexts.
  2. The PSM Element Maturity Tables: the main body of the tool, covering 16 PSM elements grouped into four categories, Commit to Process Safety, Understand Hazards and Risks, Manage Risk, and Learn from Experience, each assessed across five maturity bands from Ad-hoc through to Generative.
  3. The Assessment Template: used to record findings, provided as a stand-alone document and as an Excel spreadsheet for flexibility.

Who is the tool for? 

The tool is useful for anyone adopting ammonia as a marine fuel, or considering doing so, including: 

  • Shipowners and operators
  • Vessel and fleet managers, both shore-based and sea-going 

It may also be of interest to stakeholders with a broader interest in maritime safety, including seafarers, operators using fuels other than ammonia, regulators, and training establishments. 

How it works 

Each of the 16 elements is assessed against the same structure. A goal statement sets out what the element is trying to achieve, followed by explicit, evidence-based criteria across five maturity bands, from Ad-hoc through to Generative. This structure makes it possible to compare maturity across different elements and to see clearly how an organisation could progress from one band to the next. 

Organisations may not need to work through every element to the same depth. The User Guide sets out three assessment strategies to help tailor engagement to context: 

  1. Maritime Baseline: for operators new to safety management self-assessment, prioritising ‘enabling’ elements before moving to more delivery-focused ones.
  2. PSM Conversion: for operators with more advanced safety management cultures and practices already in place, who want to use the PSM framework to calibrate existing arrangements for ammonia.
  3. Risk-based Triage: a flexible route for identifying and prioritising the elements most likely to be limiting factors for safe ammonia operations, based on an initial quick-pass assessment.

Findings are then recorded in the Assessment Template, giving organisations a clear, evidence-based record of their current maturity and a basis for prioritising improvements.