X-Press Feeders, a container shipping company, conducted its first bio-methanol refueling operation at the port of Singapore on Monday. This move comes after the company received its first out of 14 dual-fueled vessels ordered in mid-May. The company aims to increase its use of methanol as a fuel for its fleet to achieve its targets of reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 20% by 2035 and achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.
According to Francis Goh, the chief operating officer of X-Press Feeders, using bio-methanol produced from decomposing organic matter such as waste and residues helps reduce carbon emissions by 65% compared to conventional marine fuel. The company’s first dual-fueled vessel, delivered from a Chinese shipyard this month, is sailing from Shanghai to Rotterdam via Singapore.
The vessel docked and refueled with approximately 300 metric tons of bio-methanol at Singapore on Monday. The fuel was supplied by Global Energy Trading’s chemical bunker tanker. Notably, the ship refueled while loading and unloading containers, making it the first simultaneous methanol bunkering and cargo operation to take place in Singapore, according to the city-state’s port authority.
Goh stated that this operation “marks an increase in productivity” as less time spent in port means faster turnaround for their ships. X-Press Feeders plans to launch its methanol-fueled feeder ships on a Baltic shipping route in July, followed by a Finland route in October. Goh mentioned that the European market was considered most receptive to such vessels due to the conducive regulatory environment.
X-Press Feeders will receive eight dual-fuel container ships between 2024 and 2025 and another six between 2025 and 2026. The company has agreements with six European ports to develop infrastructure for the supply and bunkering of alternative fuels.
Singapore, the world’s largest bunker hub, has received 50 proposals for the supply of methanol as a bunker fuel, with the potential to supply over 1 million tons of low-carbon methanol annually by 2030.