(www.MaritimeCyprus.com) ITOPF, as part of the International Group of P&I Clubs Alternative Fuels Working Group, has been requested to provide a series of brief summary documents to describe the expected fate and behaviours of the following alternative fuels and to outline the possible damage and liabilities that may arise from incidents involving vessels carrying these fuels as bunkers.
The alternative fuels covered are:
- Biofuels
- Hydrogen
- Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG)
- Ammonia
- Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG)
- Methanol
This report shall focus on Methanol as a non-traditional marine fuel.
Methanol is considered to be a promising low-carbon fuel for the shipping industry, as it is easier to store than ammonia, LNG or hydrogen with low tank-to-wake emissions. However, well-to-tank emissions, upstream CO2 emissions from the production, transportation, transformation and distribution of the fuel to the vessel, vary depending on the source of hydrogen used to synthesise the methanol. Currently, methanol is primarily produced from natural gas, which has a high carbon intensity. Methanol from fossil sources such as natural gas and coal are referred to as grey methanol and brown methanol respectively. Methanol from fossil sources with carbon capture and storage (CCS) is labelled as blue methanol and CO2 emission-free methanol from biomass sources or renewable electricity is labelled green methanol.
Methanol has been shipped globally, handled and used in a variety of applications for more than 100 years, and therefore the industry has experience in handling and transporting, both in tank trucks and in bulk vessels. Methanol has also been used as an automotive fuel blend with gasoline for spark-ignited engines. As a consequence, a more established understanding and knowledge of material compatibility and the safety requirements necessary to reduce risks of spills/leaks exists in comparison to other more technically immature fuel types.
Methanol’s popularity as a low-carbon fuel is clear, with the orderbooks for ships capable of using methanol as fuel being 20 times larger than the gross tonnage of methanol-fuelled ships currently in operation. Methanol has typically been used for tankers carrying methanol as cargo with 23 ships in operation and 14 on the orderbooks, however in 2023, the containership segment was the dominant ship type with 142 ships on order able to use methanol as bunkers.2 This is demonstrated by the maiden voyage of the LAURA MAERSK, the first methanol-fuelled containership that travelled from Ulsan, South Korea to Copenhagen, Denmark in July 2023.
Find out more on what we could expect in term of behaviour but also damage and liabilities arising from incidents involving Methanol, in the report below:
Source: ITOPF
For more resources on Methanol as a Marine Fuel, click HERE
For more Statistics and resources from ITOPF click HERE
