X-Press Feeders launches Europe’s first green methanol-powered feeder network

Independent common carrier X-Press Feeders has started Europe’s first scheduled feeder network serviced by green methanol-powered vessels. At the same time, the company has held a naming and christening ceremony for its first dual-fuel methanol-powered containership.

The launch of Europe’s first green methanol-fueled network took place on July 9 and it starts with Rotterdam and Antwerp Bruges to Finland and the Baltics.

It will enable companies in Europe to now have a regularly scheduled network that can ship goods in a way that has less impact on the environment, and helping them to better achieve their sustainability goals, said X-Press Feeders Chief Operating Officer, Francis Goh.  

This industry milestone is a result of X-Press Feeders’ collaboration with several partners, such as ports of Antwerp Bruges, HaminaKotka, Helsinki, Klaipeda, Riga, and Tallinn.  

X-Press Feeders’ new green feeder routes include the Green Baltic X-PRESS (GBX) and Green Finland X-PRESS (GFX). The routes are:

• Green Baltic X-PRESS (GBX): Rotterdam > Antwerp-Bruges > Klaipeda > Riga > Rotterdam
• Green Finland X-PRESS (GFX): Rotterdam > Antwerp-Bruges > Helsinki > Tallinn > HaminaKotka > Rotterdam.

According to Goh, X-Press Feeders chose northern Europe for the first routes in the network because it found that customers in this part of Europe were most receptive to the comapny’s plans for sustainable shipping.

The company selected the Port of Rotterdam as the base for Europe’s first feeder network powered by green methanol because “Rotterdam is Europe’s largest port and is fully equipped to handle green methanol refueling”.

X-Press Feeders added it will use green methanol that is independently certified in Europe under International Sustainability and Carbon Certification (ISCC).  

The start of Europe’s first green methanol-powered feeder network coincided with the naming and christening ceremony for X-Press Feeders’ first methanol dual-fuel vessel in Rotterdam.

The 1,260 TEU vessel named Eco Maestro was built and delivered by Chinese shipbuilder Yangzijiang Shipbuilding Group on May 16, 2024. The ship was the first to dock and refuel with green methanol in the Port of Singapore on its maiden voyage from Shanghai to Rotterdam,

It is the first of 14 dual-fuel vessels X-Press Feeders has on order. The company plans to deploy these vessels mostly on routes in Europe.

The second dual-fuel vessel is scheduled for delivery in the third quarter of 2024.