Asia/Pacific News
COSCO's New Boxship Can Sail from Far East to US West Coast on Pure Methanol
Chinese container line COSCO says its new 16,136 TEU dual-fuel methanol container ship is equipped with a large methanol storage tank, enabling it to complete a one-way voyage between the Far East and the US West Coast using only methanol.
The company named the vessel COSCO Shipping Yangpu at a ceremony in Yangzhou on Tuesday, marking China's first methanol dual-fuel boxship, it said in a statement on its website on Wednesday.
Methanol has a lower energy density compared to conventional marine fuels. According to Methanol Institute, MGO has an energy density of 36.6 GJ/m3 compared to methanol's 15.8 GJ/m3.
This means a methanol-fuelled vessel would need to carry approximately 2.4 times more methanol than an MGO-fuelled vessel to achieve the same energy output for a voyage.
However, the Methanol Institute notes that this disadvantage can be partially mitigated by storing methanol in conventional fuel tanks and even ballast tanks onboard, which is not possible with cryogenic fuels like LNG or hydrogen.
The COSCO Shipping Yangpu will be deployed on a transpacific route and is equipped with WinGD dual-fuel methanol engines. It is part of an order for four 16,000 TEU dual-fuel methanol container ships.
The vessel was constructed by COSCO Shipping Heavy Industry Yangzhou.
In addition, COSCO ordered 12 dual-fuel 14,000 TEU container ships in August 2024.
