Major maritime companies join Green Maritime Methanol project

Major shipowners Boskalis, The Royal Netherlands Navy, Van Oord and Wagenborg Shipping will take part in the consortium, together with shipbuilders, Damen Shipyards, Feadship, Royal IHC and major marine engine manufacturers Pon Power and Wärtsilä together with their trade association VIV. Specialized marine equipment suppliers like Marine Service Noord and maritime service providers including C-Job Naval Architects complete the maritime supply chain.

The ports of Rotterdam and Amsterdam, as well as methanol suppliers BioMCN and Helm Proman and trade organization The Methanol Institute are also involved, as the study will also examine infrastructure and supply chain issues around the use of methanol. The project has support from TKI Maritime and the Netherlands Ministry of Economic Affairs, as well as some of The Netherlands’ leading research institutes including TNO, TU Delft, NLDA and Marin.

“Together the consortium partners – which include all the main stakeholders in the transport supply chain – bring extensive experience and knowledge which will help to make this project a success,” says Pieter Boersma, Business Director Maritime & Offshore of TNO.

“The inclusion of shipowners, shipyards, OEMs, ports and methanol suppliers demonstrates the strong interest to integrate experience and knowledge from the entire value chain in the Green Maritime Methanol project. As part of the project, the partners will look at concrete possibilities to adopt methanol as marine fuel on either newbuilds or conversions of the existing fleet.”

The project will look at the implications of using methanol as a marine fuel by studying operational profiles, ship configurations, engine configurations, performances, as well as the sustainability implications of methanol.

The Green Maritime Methanol project will be completed within two years.