Ocean Yield buys second dual-fuel methanol vessel

Norway-headquartered shipowner Ocean Yield has bought a second 5,500 TEU container vessel that can run on methanol.

Its sister vessel was announced just a month ago. Both vessels are commissioned to be built by South Korea’s HJ Shipbuilding. The most recent vessel announced is expected to be delivered in May 2023, while the vessel announced last month will be delivered later, in November 2023.

Israeli ZIM Integrated Shipping Services will charter both vessels for seven years.

Methanol has been gaining traction as promising alternative marine fuel. From small beginnings, there have been several recent vessel announcements.

Shipping classification society DNV estimates that since mid-June, another six methanol-fuelled or methanol-ready vessels have been confirmed to eventually join the global fleet, bringing the total to 58.

Most of these are oil and chemical tankers (25) and container ships (23). There are also offshore vessels (4), gas tankers (2), offshore vessels (2), a RoPax and a tugboat.