Japan’s Mitsui OSK Lines (MOL) is to take on a methanol dual-fuel ultramax bulk carrier in a charter deal with compatriot Kambara Kisen, the shipping arm of the Tsuneishi Group.
The 65,700 dwt ship will be built at Tsuneishi Shipbuilding and delivered in 2027 on a charter to MOL Drybulk.
MOL, which targets having 90 LNG and methanol-fueled vessels in service by 2030, said the bulker has been designed to use e-methanol produced primarily by synthesizing recovered CO2 and hydrogen produced using renewable energy sources and bio-methanol derived from biogas.
The newbuild is expected to serve mainly in the transport of biomass fuels from the east coast of North America to Europe and the UK and within the Pacific region, as well as grain from the east coast of South America and the US Gulf to Europe and the Far East.
Bulker newbuild orders have mostly been placed with ammonia- or methanol-ready options for future retrofits when the fuels become available. Only a handful of dual-fuel exceptions have been revealed so far. In addition to Kambara Kisen’s ultramax, J. Lauritzen, Cargill and Mitsui & Co signed up for methanol-powered kamsarmaxes at Tsuneishi, while Idan Ofer-controlled Eastern Pacific Shipping has ammonia-fuelled newcastlemaxes in its orderbook.
Tsuneishi also won an order for a methanol dual-fuelled ultramax bulker in February, which will hit the water in 2025. The owner behind the deal was not named.
