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The Gothenburg-based “Stena Germanica” is the first ferry worldwide to use this fuel of the future/ A milestone in the methanol business/Supply chain moved from road to sea With a length of 241 m, the Swedish-flagged “Stena Germanica” (64,039 GRT) is one of the largest ferries in the Baltic Sea region.
It transports ro-ro cargo and up to 1,300 pas- sengers on the Kiel-Gothenburg route. The shipping company Stena Line is particularly proud of the fact that the four dual-fuel propulsion engines (type Sulzer- CMM 8ZAL40S, total output 23,000 kW) have been operated mainly with particularly envi- ronmentally friendly methanol (methyl alcohol) since the conver- sion in 2015.
For this purpose, the ballast tanks have been converted into methanol tanks; marine die- sel can still be used if necessary. The “Stena Germanica” is the first ferry worldwide to use this fuel of the future. Methanol for ship propulsion is still at an early stage of development. Therefore, land supply is only guaranteed in
a few ports so far. Since neither Gothenburg nor Kiel have tank farms dedicated to methanol, the methanol imported from the USA in large tankers has to be distrib- uted from the European central tank storage in Antwerp by road in tanker trucks and delivered to the seagoing vessel by barge. This has also been the case in Gothen- burg so far.
Methanol imports in large tankers from the USA
At the end of January, the time had come. E&S tanker “Stolt Sandpi- per” (4,449 dwt) moored along- side the “Stena Germanica” using a purpose-built platform to transfer the bunker hoses to the bunkering station of the much larger ferry. A Swedish newspaper described this world premiere: “The rapid rollout of landmark methanol fuelling moments continues with news from Sweden, where the world’s first methanol ferry, the ‘Stena Germanica’, has become the first non-tanker to successfully complete ship-to-ship methanol bunkering with fuel provided by Methanex Corporation.”
Methanex, headquartered in Vancouver, Canada, with pro- duction facilities several places around the world, said: As the world’s largest producer and sup- plier of methanol, we’re pleased to continue our collaboration with Stena Line to demonstrate that methanol is a leading alternative, cleaner-burning, future-proof marine fuel. This first ship-to-ship methanol for a non-tanker lever- aging our partners E&S Tankers and the port of Gothenburg, is further evidence that methanol is globally available, safe to ship,
The confusing global political sit- uation and its economic effects extending into private life are not what we had hoped for in 2023. Added to this are ambitious cli- mate goals that are important but on whose implementation there is often no agreement. In particular for the shipping industry, which plans for the long term.
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Source: Liveicom
