Shipowners contracting newbuildings during July largely plumped for methanol for vessels ordered with alternative fuels, according to classification society DNV.
Giving its monthly update on fuelling figures, DNV said 62 vessels were ordered with alternative fuels during July.
DNV said the month saw “another record for methanol ships” with 48 ships added, including 15 retrofits.
Its figures show the world methanol-fuelled fleet now numbers 204 vessels, comprising 177 on-order vessels and 27 existing ships. The bulk of the under-construction vessels are container ships.
The class society described LNG dual-fuel ordering during the month as continuing at a steady pace with 14 newbuildings contracted in July driven largely by car carriers and large tankers.
“This month’s orders brought the number of confirmed LNG-fuelled crude oil tankers past the 100 mark, 65 of which are already in operation,” it said.
DNV’s figures currently log 949 confirmed LNG-fuelled ships, 529 or which are on order with 420 already trading.
DNV maritime advisory business principal consultant Martin Wold said: “Beating last month’s record by a solid margin, orders for methanol-powered vessels have now jumped past the 200 mark.
“The significant number of new confirmed orders and retrofits for methanol coincides with the delivery of the world’s first methanol-fuelled container vessel and the signing of the first bunker supply agreement for green methanol for ships.”
AP Moller-Maersk’s first methanol dual-fuelled feedership — the 2,100-teu newbuilding Maersk Solstice — has been bunkered with green methanol in Ulsan and Singapore on its maiden voyage to its naming ceremony in Copenhagen. The ship will also be refuelled in Egypt and Rotterdam.
On 28 July, Dutch fuel producer and supplier OCI Global announced it had signed a deal to supply green methanol to feeder ship operator X-Press Feeders’ newbuildings in the Port of Rotterdam from 2024.
