As the shipping industry works to develop its path towards
decarbonization, one large shipowner has decided to use the existing technology
to start a conversion to methanol while longer-term solutions continue to be
developed.
Eastern Pacific Shipping, which has a fleet of
containerships, dry bulk carriers, and tankers totally 15 million dwt, will
work with OCI, a producer and supplier of nitrogen and methanol, and MAN Energy
Solutions to begin to retrofit existing ships and develop new ones to run first
on methanol later ammonia as it is developed as a marine fuel. The companies
expect to have the first ships sailing on methanol in the next two years.
“As a leading tonnage provider, EPS has taken a firm stance
that sustainability begins with accountability. This means we have a
responsibility to implement emission lowering solutions available today while
simultaneously developing solutions for tomorrow,” said EPS CEO Cyril Ducau.
“Converting our existing conventional fleet to burn methanol creates a unique
opportunity to continue lowering our carbon footprint significantly and
rapidly. In the meantime, developing ammonia-fueled conversion and newbuilding
projects will help develop more mature zero-carbon solutions in the longer-term.”
Under the program, they will begin by selecting conventional
vessels from EPS’ existing tanker fleet that use MAN engines to be retrofitted.
The vessels will be adapted allowing them to be powered by methanol and
ammonia, which will be supplied by OCI. Also, EPS will construct newbuild
vessels with MAN engines powered by the same alternative marine fuels. OCI
intends to charter the first retrofitted vessel from EPS.
“The use of ammonia or methanol as a shipping fuel is
particularly promising as these products are among the best-placed alternatives
to help this sector decarbonize in a cost-effective way. We are confident that,
in addition to the exciting developments on new-builds, existing vessels can
economically convert their engines to use our low-carbon products and help the
industry meet its goals,” said Ahmed El-Hoshy, Chief Executive Officer of OCI
NV. “We see this as starting with the adoption of grey/blue methanol and
ammonia and then shifting to green as production costs come down, customer
appetites move towards green and regulations continue to develop.”
The companies hope that this project will also set an
example for other shipping companies to work with available technologies to
begin to achieve reductions in CO2 emissions. They note that the technology to
retrofit a vessel to accept methanol as a fuel is available today.
“Methanol and ammonia are very interesting candidates as
zero-carbon fuels. We have already introduced a methanol-burning two-stroke
engine, while we expect to deliver the first ammonia-fueled engine in 2024,”
said Brian Østergaard Sørensen, Vice President and Head of R&D, Two-Stroke
Business at MAN Energy Solutions