China COSCO Shipping, a Chinese state-owned enterprise, has announced that one of its new methanol dual-fuel vessels will be able to complete a one-way voyage between the “Far East and the West Coast of America” in a “pure methanol mode” which, presumably, means using methanol-fuel only.
Some speculation may be in order as the statement say what a methanol-only trans-Pacific route the vessel would take. COSCO sails many different routes, according to its sailing schedule. Two routes that may be indicative include:
- Yantian, southern China to Long Beach (Los Angeles) USA is roughly 6,617 nautical miles (12,255 km)
- (Yantian is approximately 31 km distant from Hong Kong, on a heading roughly halfway between north-by-east and north-north-east).
- Ningbo (northern China) to Long Beach (Los Angeles) USA is roughly 6,000 nautical miles (11,091 km) across the Pacific
The new vessel, the COSCO Shipping Yangpu (IMO: 9945899), named in Yangzhou on 18 February, has a cargo capacity of 16,136 TEU, a total length of 366 meters and a beam of 51 meters. The vessel was built by COSCO Shipping Heavy Industry (Yangzhou).
Memorandum on green methanol production
The announcement of the Yangpu’s ability to sail across the Pacific on methanol-only is just the latest in a sequence of methanol-news from COSCO Shipping.
In mid-November last year, the company – together with the Charoen Pokphand Group of Thailand and the Furibo Group of the United States – signed a memorandum of cooperation on green methanol production. According to the agreement, the three parties would deepen co-operation in areas such as shipping and green energy with the aim of using biomass resources in south east Asia. Part of the thinking here was to build a green methanol production base that meets European Union standards and which would effectively guarantee COSCO Shipping’s renewable energy substitution process.
Methanol refueling
Then, in early December last year, a COSCO Shipping subsidiary carried out a test land-side refueling of 79.5 tons of LNG-made methanol fuel for a new 1,300 TEU methanol dual-fuel powered boxship. The ship was due to be tested in Taizhou (approximately 290km to the south of Shanghai). The “vehicle-to-ship” operation used a mobile methanol-refueling vehicle and the operation took 2.5 hours. Then, in late December last year, the same subsidiary provided 150 tonnes of methanol fuel for an unspecified 16,000 TEU ship that was build by COSCO Shipping Heavy Industry (this vessel is presumably the COSCO Shipping Yanpu, although this is not specifically stated). The refueling of the larger vessel was carried out over a distance of 80 meters and at a height of nearly 40 meters.
It may be worth noting that this 16,000 TEU boxship is rep0rtedly the first “large scale” methanol dual-powered boxship in China. It is said that the ship’s Energy Efficiency Design Index meets the IMO’s Phase 3 standard, which can reduce carbon emissions by about 8.9%, 52.8% lower than the baseline. The ship, according to COSCO Shipping’s December 2024 statement, is equipped with an engine developed by China Shipbuilding Power Group, another COSCO subsidiary and one that holds the intellectual property rights. Compared with traditional engines, the new engine can reduce nitrous oxide production by 50%, sulphur oxide production by 97%, particulate matter by 90% and greenhouse gas emissions by 11%.
COSCO Shipping operates approximately 538 vessels on 429 routes, calling at 629 ports in 145 countries.
