Pacific Basin pivots back to conventional fuels amid IMO uncertainty

Hong Kong-based shipowner Pacific Basin has cancelled orders for four methanol-capable vessels and shifted back to conventional-fuelled tonnage.

IMAGE: Mount Aso bulk carrier. Pacific Basin

The company cited “renewed uncertainty around the timing and final shape” of the IMO’s Net-Zero Framework as the reason for its shift back to conventional fuels.

The dry bulk operator has agreed to terminate contracts with two unnamed Japanese shipbuilders for four methanol-capable newbuilds. It will instead proceed with four conventionally fuelled vessels under revised agreements with the same counterparties, with deliveries expected by 2029.

Separately, Pacific Basin has ordered two 40,000-dwt conventional-fuelled vessels from China’s Jiangmen Nanyang Ship Engineering, scheduled for delivery by the end of 2028.

The move reflects a more cautious approach to alternative fuel investment as regulatory clarity remains elusive amid a growing political divide ahead of key IMO negotiations in the next two weeks.

But the company has not abandoned methanol entirely. It has also secured an option with Japan's Mitsui & Co to purchase two methanol-capable newbuilds by 2027 with possible deliveries between 2030 and 2031.

By Konica Bhatt

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