- Stena Line introduces the world’s first methanol powered ferry Stena Germanica travelled powered by recycled methanol.
- Stena Germanica has a duel fuel system onboard to run on both diesel and methanol.
- The project established methanol as a marine fuel for the first time ever.
Stena Line achieves another world first using recycled methanol to power the ferry Stena Germanica, says a press release published on their website.
World’s first methanol powered ferry
In 2015 Stena Line made history by converting one of the largest RoPax ferries in the world, the 240-metre Stena Germanica, to become the world’s first methanol powered ferry. Now the Swedish ferry company has achieved another world first, by powering Stena Germanica with methanol recycled from residual steel gases.
Blue Methanol
This week Stena Line took the next step on their sustainable journey towards achieving zero carbon when the Stena Germanica travelled from Sweden to Germany powered by recycled methanol.
The new fuel dubbed ‘Blue Methanol’, is recycled from residual steel gases, a by product of the steel production industry and helps reduce the ferry’s reliance on diesel, thus lowering the vessel’s carbon emissions further.
Go greener
By making Stena Germanica blue the new fuel helps the vessel become greener! This week’s journey is another milestone in this ground-breaking project, which launched in 2015 when the dual-fuel system onboard Stena Germanica was converted to allow the vessel to run on both methanol and diesel fuel. It is the world’s first methanol powered RoPax (passenger and freight) ferry, which operates on the Gothenburg – Kiel route.
Methanol as a marine fuel
Stena Line developed it with several partners, including Methanex, Wärtsilä and EU’s Motorways of the Seas project. The conversion project was the first of its kind in the world and was so unique that it established methanol as a marine fuel for the first time ever.
Sustainable journey
“It is exciting to be part of our sustainable journey and try out another new sustainable fuel. I can confirm that we sailed with the new fuel from Gothenburg to Kiel on June 22 and it worked very well,” says Peter Holm, Chief Engineer Stena Germanica.
Fossil free shipping
“This collaboration between the steel and the maritime sectors is the first of its kind and demonstrates that by working together companies from different backgrounds can greatly improve their impact on the climate. For Stena Line this is another successful proof of concept for our methanol conversion ferry and a further bridge towards our aim of fossil free shipping,” says Erik Lewenhaupt, Head of Sustainability Stena Line Group.
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Source: StenaLine
