Wärtsilä-Backed LNG Bunker Methane Slip Project Wins EU Funding

by Ship & Bunker News Team
Monday February 27, 2023

A project seeking to reduce methane slip from ships using LNG as a bunker fuel has been awarded funding from the European Union.

The Green Ray Project consortium is seeking to develop technologies to cut methane slip from LNG marine engines, engineering firm Wärtsilä said in a statement on its website on Monday.

The project has been coordinated by VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, and aside from Wärtsilä, its backers include Chantiers de l'Atlantique, CMA CGM, DNV, the Finnish Meteorological Institute, MSC Cruises Management, non-profit organisation Revolve Water and Shell.

The project, running until 2027, has been awarded about EUR 7 million from the EU's Horizon Europe programme.

"This research will allow us to build on the continuous improvements made in reducing methane slip from engines over the past twenty years," Sebastiaan Bleuanus, general manager for research coordination and funding at Wärtsilä Marine Power, said in the statement.

"Taking these solutions for newbuilds and retrofits to near commercial readiness will be an important step for the long-term viability of LNG as a marine fuel."