First STS methanol bunkering at Gothenburg

Swedish shipping company Stena Line bunkered its ferry Stena Germanica with methanol via ship-to-ship (STS) transfer in the Port of Gothenburg.

The bunkering operation is claimed to be the first non-tanker vessel to be bunkered with methanol via STS in the world. Previously, the Stena Germanica received methanol from trucks when berthed at port. The tanker operator E&S Tankers carried out the operation with fuel from Canadian methanol provider Methanex.

The Port of Gothenburg Authority received approval from the Swedish Transport Agency to operate methanol STS bunkering in April 2022. Behind the push for methanol bunkering is the port's goal of reducing shipping emissions in the area by 70pc by 2030. To achieve this it began pursuing the establishment of a value chain for alternative marine fuels, like e-methanol, with the goal of availability by next year.

Although a first for Gothenburg and for bunkering a ferry by barge, methanol bunkering via barge was first conducted in May 2021. Waterfront Shipping (WFS), a subsidiary of Methanex, [fuelled the Takaroa Sun with methanol](https://direct.argusmedia.com/newsandanalysis/article/2214374) at Vopak's Botlek terminal in the Netherlands. In August 2022 the joint venture between global methanol producer Proman and Stena Bulk bunkered two of its vessels with 2,000t of methanol in Ulsan, South Korea.

Proman Stena Bulk has backed methanol as an alternative marine fuel of the future in recent years. In 2019, the joint venture ordered six methanol fuelled medium-range tankers with the first of the six arriving in June 2022.

Commercial bunkering of methanol remains limited despite the rise of bunkering pilots and orders for methanol-ready vessels. Price premiums for the alternative fuel remain an impediment to broad uptake, with methanol delivered on board in Rotterdam currently averaging a $188/t premium to very-low sulphur fuel oil (VLSFO), according to Argus data. The premium is wider for e-methanol, averaging $2,226/t to VLSFO.

By James Marriott