The Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) decided to start a project to present the use of methanol as maritime fuel. This is an attempt to boost shipping on Indian waterways. Namely, orders have been placed to Cochin Shipyard to retrofit vessels to run on methanol.
According to local media, IWAI vice-chairman Pravir Pandey said that they have placed order for 3 work boats to retrofit engines and 6 low draft cargo vessels of 1,000-2,000 tons capacity to Cochin Shipyard that will use methanol as fuel with technology from Sweden after a go-ahead from NITI Aayog.
IWAI has marked that there is draft issues which can be as low as 2 meters but the design of the cargo vessels has been offered by DST of Germany that requires just 1.5 meters draft. This is an important factor for inland waterways’ success.
[smlsubform prepend=”GET THE SAFETY4SEA IN YOUR INBOX!” showname=false emailtxt=”” emailholder=”Enter your email address” showsubmit=true submittxt=”Submit” jsthanks=false thankyou=”Thank you for subscribing to our mailing list”]
Across the shipping industry, methanol has begun to offer a long-term solution for the industry’s carbon emission reduction strategy.
In October, a research project presented key findings that make methanol a viable marine fuel, concluding that:
- The properties of Methanol surpass other alternative fuels in shipping.
- The major benefit is the storage at ambient temperature and ambient pressure without loss.
- In terms of ship design, Methanol is space-saving, simple and practical with the established advantages of a liquid fuel.
- Methanol offers compelling environmental properties and has the most promising lifecycle analysis when produced from renewable sources.
- An already widespread infrastructure and availability could be a key enabler for Methanol.
Methanol is superior to fuels not naturally liquid, while it is not classified as ‘more dangerous’ than other fuels. In fact, it has better fire safety over gasoline. Moreover, a key issue in the uptake of methanol is the fact that relevant infrastructure already exists, and it can be extended by adjusting the existing tanks.
