Orders up for methanol as marine fuel: Gibson

Methanol as a marine fuel is drawing increased investments from container and tanker markets as they view it as an increasingly viable option, according to Gibson Shipbrokers.

Danish shipowner Maersk is the leading contender in this area, ordering 19 container vessels that can run on methanol, with 30 additional vessels ordered by other companies, Gibson said.

Maersk is teaming up with Japanese trading firm Mitsui and maritime standards agency American Bureau of Shipping on a methanol feasibility study in Singapore. Maersk Growth, the company's venture capital arm, is also backing a German start-up company for mass production of green methanol.

There are 24 medium-range (MR) tankers in operation that burn methanol, according to Gibson, and others are on order. US trading firm Cargill is teaming up with Japan's Mitsui on two Kamsarmax bulk carriers, which are scheduled to be delivered in 2025. Japanese shipbuilder Tsuneishi Shipbuilding will build the two vessels for Cargill. Norway-based shipping companies MPC Container Ships and North Sea Container Lin have agreed with Norwegian silicon and ferro-alloy producer Elkem to order two new vessels powered by e-methanol.

Methanol has multiple advantages over other alternative marine fuel options, Gibson said, including the ease it provides for shipowners to make vessel building plans because regulations are already in place to use methanol as a marine fuel. But it has drawbacks as well, including needing bigger fuel tanks on board a ship because of its lower calorific value, the shipbroker said.

The Maersk Mc-Kinney Moller Center for Zero Carbon Shipping expects supply of methanol as a marine fuel to be at 9mn t/yr by 2030, rising to 12mn t/yr by 2040.Still, that is much less than its projection for ammonia use as marine fuel, which is 47mn t/yr by 2030.

By Luis Gronda