Methanol-fuelled tankers named in China
At the naming ceremony of the two MR tankers (Source: Proman Stena Bulk)
Joint venture tanker company, Proman Stena Bulk, has named the final two vessels in its initial six-ship methanol-fuelled tanker fleet in a ceremony at Guangzhou Shipyard International (GSI), China.
The joint venture between tanker owner, Stena Bulk, and methanol producer, Proman, held the naming ceremony of the 49,900dwt Stena Provident and Stena Progressive at the shipyard because of its ‘pivotal role’ in the three-year-long construction of the six-ship series. This, the company said, continued through the difficult days of the COVID pandemic.
The dual-fuel medium-range (MR) tankers will consume about 12,000 tonnes of methanol a year, notching up NOx emission reductions of 80%, virtually eliminating SOx and particulate matter, and cutting carbon dioxide emissions by 15% on a tank-to-wake basis compared with conventional marine fuels. Meanwhile, the ships’ cargo tanks are coated with the high-performance polymer MarineLINE, the company said, providing greater cargo flexibility.
Proman chief executive, David Cassidy, said: “Naming Stena Provident and Stena Progressive at GSI is a fantastic milestone for the Proman Stena Bulk joint venture. We now have a market-leading fleet of future-proofed methanol tankers that clearly show the way for methanol as a marine fuel. That these two tankers will be time-chartered means that more players across the market can familiarise themselves with methanol and the considerable near-term benefits it can bring to their operations. We look forward to working with partners across the supply chain to continue demonstrating the upsides of using methanol today.”
Erik Hånell, president and CEO of Stena Bulk, commented: “Naming Stena Provident and Stena Progressive at GSI provides us with the perfect opportunity to celebrate the pivotal role that the shipyard has played in realising our joint venture methanol-fuelled tanker fleet. Together, Stena Bulk, Proman, and GSI have developed unique and industry-leading experience about how to make methanol shipping a reality; an experience that we hope to share more widely across our sector as we all work together to reach the ambitious decarbonisation targets set out before us.”
The naming ceremony of the two tankers saw Alicia Schnabel named as the godmother of Stena Provident and Ambassador Marie-Claire Swärd Capra, Consul General of Sweden in Shanghai, named as the godmother of Stena Progressive.
