Second green methanol-powered feeder vessel deployed in Europe

Singapore-based container shipping firm X-Press Feeders has deployed a ship it says runs on green methanol to sail between European ports. 

PHOTO: The Eco Maestro is X-Press Feeders' first methanol-capable ship. X-Press Feeders

The Eco Maestro was launched in August last year and will now run on green methanol between a set of northern European ports.

“Our feeder networks will be powered by green methanol in terms of main engine propulsion,” X-Press Feeders told ENGINE.

This is a significant development and follows only a few months after the first green methanol-powered feeder vessel, Laura Maersk, was deployed in Europe. The Laura Maersk now sails between Gothenburg and Bremerhaven.

X-Press Feeders announced last December that the Eco Maestro would be fuelled by bio-methanol and that it had signed an offtake agreement with Dutch methanol producer OCI Global to purchase bio-methanol for its upcoming fleet of methanol-powered vessels.

The Eco Maestro is the first of 14 dual-fuel methanol-capable vessels that X-Press Feeders has on order. The firm’s second vessel is slated to join its fleet in the third quarter that we are currently in.

Green methanol will reduce the vessels' greenhouse gas emissions by up to 65% compared to conventional fossil fuels, X-Press Feeders claims. 

The 14 methanol-capable vessels will operate in a feeder network that spans Rotterdam and six of X-Press Feeders' partner ports: Antwerp-Bruges, Helsinki, Tallinn, HaminaKotka, Klaipeda and Riga.

By Manjula Nair

Please get in touch with comments or additional info to news@engine.online