Conversion to methanol: The engine is the easy part

Methanol is the fastest-growing alternative fuel option being adopted by shipowners today next to LNG.

The rise in popularity, especially over the past year, has been boosted by a massive vote of confidence by one of the world’s largest container shipping companies, Maersk, the example of which has been followed by many of its peers, including CMA CGM and COSCO.

Grey methanol already has a lower emission profile than traditional fossil fuels such as heavy fuel oil (HFO) and marine diesel oil (MDO), including lower emissions of SOx (sulfur oxide), NOx (nitrogen oxide), and particulate matter.

However, grey methanol, although readily available, is produced from fossil fuels, and is not a fully sustainable and emission-free solution.

Blue methanol is a more sustainable alternative to grey methanol, as it significantly reduces the carbon footprint of methanol production by using carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology to capture carbon dioxide emissions and store them underground or in other permanent storage facilities

The ‘ultimate solution’ is green methanol, produced from renewable sources using sustainable production methods. That being said, the production of green methanol requires significant investment in production infrastructure and may be more expensive than grey or blue methanol.

In addition to its low-environmental footprint, methanol offers other key benefits including the fact that it is liquid and that it can be easily stored in traditional tanks, making it compatible with the existing infrastructure, and the fact that it is less expensive. Furthermore, it has a minimal environmental impact from accidental spills.

From a newbuilding perspective, data shows that only in the first two months of 2023, over 20 methanol-fuelled ships have been ordered. These include HMM’s nine recently ordered 9,000 TEU containerships powered by methanol dual-fuel engines as well as twelve ULCVs ordered at Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering (KSOE) by an unnamed shipowner, believed to be CMA CGM.

In addition, Swiss freight trader Cargill has placed an order for two methanol-fuelled bulk carriers in Japan. The company has teamed up with Mitsu & Co, and ordered a Kamsarmax duo from Japanese shipbuilder Tsuinesihi Shipbuilding.

Japanese shipbuilder Tsuneishi Shipbuilding is also building a 65,700 dwt bulk carrier for an undisclosed owner. The vessel will feature MAN B&W 6G50ME-LGIM engine being provided by MAN Energy Solutions.

The engine manufacturer has seen a surge in interest in methanol, which represents more than 30% of all the company’s current, open pipeline projects across a broad range of vessel segments.

According to MAN’s Promotion Manager based in Denmark, Jorgen Vedsted, the company is about to reach 100 figure for its two-stroke methanol dual-fuel engines on order and in service.

The activity in the newbuilding market is undisputed, however, there has been less activity in the retrofitting segment.

Speaking at a seminar in Istanbul yesterday on the Rise of Methanol as Future Proof Marine Fuel, Toni Stojcevski, General Manager Large Projects from Wartsila, explains that retrofitting an engine to methanol is ‘quite easy’.

He said that Wärtsilä’s 32 methanol engine series, which is being distributed also as a new engine, can be easily converted to methanol. The engine has been used for the conversion of Stena Germanica, delivered in 2015, extending its life cycle for additional 15-20 years.

“If you look into conversions of ships to methanol, I would say the engine part complexity is on a ratio of 15 to 20%. The majority of complexity for such projects comes from the bunker side: finding space on board for methanol storage and the methanol tanks, the cofferdams, the fuel preparation, space for the safety systems etc. The engine is the easy part, and we are not afraid to convert the engine. It can be done more or less on all 32 engines. The challenge always comes from the fuel space,” he said.

According to Stojcevski, ferries are very good ‘structurally’ for conversion to methanol, and they are also the likely candidates being quite exposed to the CII index. The process itself takes around 6 weeks, and it takes around one week to convert the engine to methanol.

“It’s quite straightforward,” he pointed out. “We are looking into many ferry and cruise vessel conversion projects at the moment,” he added.

Wärtsilä will supply its hybrid propulsion system for four new heavy lift vessels being built at the Wuhu Shipyard in China for SAL Heavy Lift GmbH. The ships are scheduled for delivery in 2025 and will be used mainly to support wind farm installations. 

The company is also involved in the construction of Offshore Wind Installation Vessel (WIV) being built for the Dutch contracting company Van Oord at Yantai CIMC Raffles shipyard in China. The vessel will be powered by five Wärtsilä 32 engines capable of operating with methanol, and is expected to be delivered in 2024.

“We are in discussions on many engine projects and we expect that by 2026-27 we should have 300+ engines in operation on methanol,” Stojcevski concluded, adding that the outlook for methanol is favorable and that the technology is there.