Shipowner Hafnia confirmed on Tuesday its first order for methanol dual-fuel MR tankers with four commissioned from China’s Guangzhou Shipyard International (GSI).

The product and chemical tanker owner said three of the 49,800-dwt vessels will be delivered in 2025, with a fourth in 2026. The vessels have been booked against long-term time charters to oil major TotalEnergies.

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TradeWinds reported the deal in June, when shipping players suggested the charters would be for at least five years.

Shipbuilding brokers said Hafnia would be paying slightly more than $50m apiece for the tankers. The company did not disclose financial terms.

But Hafnia, which operates more than 200 tankers, said the “expensive” cost of methanol dual-fuel tankers needed partnerships with charterers to make them worthwhile.

Soren Steenberg Jensen, head of asset management at Hafnia, said: “Given the time it takes to build a vessel, and the time it takes actually to start moving the needle on carbon emissions, it is important to act now and take proactive steps in decarbonising the maritime industry.”

The deal was struck with Hafnia’s joint-venture partner, Socatra — France’s last tanker owner.

In 2022, Hafnia took delivery of two LNG dual-fuel LR2 product tankers — the 110,000-dwt Hafnia Languedoc and Hafnia Loire — also from GSI and both on time charter employment with TotalEnergies. Two more are due to be delivered next year.

Methanol dual-fuel tankers led the way for alternative fuel ordering in July, according to classification society DNV.

Its figures suggest the world’s methanol-fuelled fleet now numbers 204 vessels, comprising 27 existing ships and 177 units on order.

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