Proman Stena Bulk, the joint venture between tanker company Stena Bulk and methanol producer Proman, has successfully taken delivery of a further methanol-fueled tanker, Stena Prosperous.
The 49,990 DWT vessel was successfully delivered from Guangzhou Shipyard International Co Ltd (GSI) and will now enter commercial operation running fully on methanol.
The joint venture now has four vessels actively trading and bunkering fully on the low-emission future fuel. The fourth ship joins the Proman Stena Bulk-owned Stena Pro Patria and Stena Pro Marine, and the Proman-owned Stena Promise, which were all delivered in 2022.
The joint venture fleet has already loaded methanol fuel in Ulsan, Trinidad and Rotterdam in the past year, with other major bunkering hubs to follow in 2023.
Stena Prosperous, like the other methanol-fuelled joint venture vessels, has a low EEDI (Energy Efficiency Design Index) value while running on methanol. The IMOIIMeMax vessel series benefits from industry-leading design improvements and technologies to maximise energy efficiency and minimise fuel consumption, resulting in an EEDI 11% below the 2025 Phase 3 requirements and setting a new benchmark for mid-range tankers.
Moreover, the vessels’ engine designs make the ships ready to achieve incoming emissions reduction targets, as greater quantities of very low-carbon blue and renewable methanol becomes available for blending and bunkering in the near future.
Stena Prosperous will use approximately 12,500 tonnes of methanol as fuel per year. Conventional methanol from natural gas virtually eliminates SOx and particulate matter, cuts NOx by 60%, and reduces CO2 emissions from the vessel’s operations by up to 15% on a tank-to-wake basis, compared to conventional marine fuels.
It’s fantastic to be able to end 2022 with a fourth methanol tanker joining our joint venture fleet. These vessels are truly pioneering and meet the highest standards of safety, sustainability and efficiency, laying down a marker for what is already possible
Erik Hånell, President and CEO of Stena Bulk, said.
Last month, Proman Stena Bulk formally named its first newbuild IMOIIMeMAX methanol-fueled vessel, Stena Pro Patria, in a ceremony hosted in Trinidad and Tobago on 23rd November 2022.
Stena Pro Patria is the first of three methanol-fuelled vessels delivered in 2022 to the joint venture between leading tanker company Stena Bulk and the methanol producer Proman, with a further three newbuilds due for delivery between now and 2024.
