First Methanol Bunkering Operation at Port of Savannah

The tanker Stena Provident, chartered by Bahri Chemicals and owned by Proman and Stena Bulk, took on almost 1,000 mt of methanol at the port on February 24. Image Credit: Proman

The Port of Savannah in Georgia has seen its first methanol bunkering operation.

The tanker Stena Provident, chartered by Bahri Chemicals and owned by Proman and Stena Bulk, took on almost 1,000 mt of methanol at the port on February 24, Proman said in an emailed statement on Thursday.

The fuel was loaded at Colonial Terminals' Lathrop 2 facility.

"Savannah is a significant port and completing the first ever methanol bunkering here underlines the growing demand for methanol as a marine fuel, and the increasing industry acceptance of its role on the pathway to achieving a lower-emission future for the shipping sector," Anita Gajadhar, executive director of marketing and logistics at Proman, said in the statement.

"Our fleet of methanol fuelled vessels have been in operation around the world for over 20 months and we are proud to be enabling others to gain valuable operational experience of using methanol as a marine fuel by time chartering Stena Provident and other ships in the fleet.

"The bunkering was made possible thanks to the collaboration with Bahri Chemicals and Colonial Terminals, and I am sure it marks the first of many methanol refuellings at the port."

Methanol is rapidly gaining in popularity as an alternative marine fuel, driven in large part by Maersk's confidence in it, with orders of methanol-fuelled tonnage now coming in regularly from a variety of shipping segments. The main challenge for this market will be the scaling-up of green methanol supply in time to meet the needs of the new ships as they are delivered.