Link Marine & Blaze Energy Partner to Future-Proof Tanker Fleet

Denver, Colorado, June 1st 2026 - Link Marine, a Norwegian and Hong Kong third-party newbuilding and ship management consultancy services provider, has signed an agreement with the U.S.- and Norway-based Blaze Energy to offer flexible and gradual adoption of alternative fuels to the Link Marine solutions suite.

This partnership will offer retrofit options for existing fleet and future-proofing newbuild vessels through deployment of Blaze Energy's innovative Flex-Fuel Reformer System. This new addition to Link Marine solutions is expected to be available in 2028, and is designed to support the adoption of alternative fuels in commercial shipping.

With this partnership, Link Marine continues to expand its forward-looking, integrated maritime solutions for chemical tanker operators, collaborating with a partner that shares Link Marine's commitment to innovation and bringing new solutions to meet market needs.

This partnership will share Blaze's new technology with the most active tanker companies via a trusted partner with more than a decade of experience providing third-party specialized chemical and other types of tanker newbuild and retrofit services.

The collaboration will help shipowners and fleets prepare for the next decades of complex maritime shipping landscape. With vessels representing multi-decade investments, the risk of premature lock-in to a single fuel or propulsion solution has become a central strategic concern.

Blaze Energy's multi-fuel reforming technology, the Fuel Flexible Reformer System, addresses this concern by matching alternative fuel combustion properties to those of hydrocarbon fuels, allowing their use in existing engines. Scheduled for pilot installation onboard a trading bulk carrier in 2027, tested under real operating conditions and a successful class and flag certification, the first product, focused on ammonia, is estimated to be available for commercial deployments in 2028. Available for retrofit and newbuild vessels, the product will focus on delivering emission compliance while preserving fuel optionality and avoiding premature fuel lock-in.

Blaze Energy's fuel reforming system generates hydrogen on-board the vessel from alternative fuels, including ammonia, methanol, LNG, before injecting the produced hydrogen into the engine. This approach accelerates and improves combustion of slow-burning alternative fuels such as ammonia, improves combustion efficiency, and reduces nitrous emissions and methane slip in LNG engines.

The system is also an extremely compact and energy efficient reforming solution, designed to fit along the fuel delivery line. Created for integration with traditional diesel and new dual-fuel engines, the reformer can be deployed on a wide variety of vessels due to its modularity and compact size.

By adding Blaze Energy's technology to Link Marine's newbuilding specifications and retrofit scopes, shipowners and fleets can prepare well in advance to leverage a solution designed for practical shipyard deployment to create fuel flexibility and meet growing regulatory requirements.

As maritime industry tightens regulations, including the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS), Fuel EU Maritime and other upcoming regional or industry wide regulation frameworks, shipowners need solutions to manage fuel pathways and availability, while also creating economic and technically viable compliance plans. Given the long-term investment each vessel represents, Blaze Energy's technology and Link Marine's proven deployment record will offer a solution that shipowners can rely on, lowering costs and creating value on the asset management and operations sides.

Jaakko Heikkinen, Link Marine Director said, "This partnership strengthens Link Marine's position as a forward-looking provider of integrated maritime solutions. By working with Blaze Energy, we expand our technology portfolio and enhance the value we deliver to customers. It also allows us to collaborate with a partner that shares our commitment to innovation and customer success, enabling us to accelerate development and bring more advanced solutions to market faster."

Rok Sitar, Blaze Energy CEO and Co-Founder said, "Through Blaze Energy's partnership with Link Marine, a highly credible, leading third party provider of newbuilding and ship management services, we tackle one of the largest issues in deploying new technology into maritime market: managing technical and commercial risk. This partnership could meaningfully shift the industry's default stance from 'wait and see' to 'build optionality and be prepared."

The Link Marine partnership follows Blaze Energy's recent agreement with lomarlabs and Lomar Shipping to pilot a third-generation, compact, engine-integrated fuel reformer on a Lomar's trading vessel. This joint project is designed to accelerate the practical adoption of alternative fuels in commercial shipping.

Please contact Link Marine at [email protected] or Blaze Energy at [email protected] to learn more.