Proman Stena Bulk, Stena Bulk and Proman’s venture, has chalked up its first barge-to-ship methanol bunkering on the US Gulf Coast.
The tankers Stena Pro Marine and Stena Prosperous were refuelled with methanol via barge while discharging clean petroleum products at a terminal in the Port of Houston.
“The Port of Houston is a major global cargo hub with significant latent methanol storage capacity. These qualities made it a natural testbed for our first US ship-to-ship bunkering,” said Anita Gajadhar, executive director, marketing, logistics and shipping, Proman
“Proman Stena Bulk continues to work with partners across the supply chain to develop methanol bunkering facilities worldwide and at key strategic bunker hubs. Announcements like today’s continue to prove the viability of the methanol marine fuel supply chain.”
Bunkering first
Stena Pro Marine was bunkered with 1,408MT of methanol and Stena Prosperous was refuelled with 1,203MT during the operation. Both ships were time-chartered to a global trading house at the time of the refuelling.
Bunkering was conducted jointly with Kirby Corporation, the largest tanker barge provider in the United States.
The ability to refuel both vessels with methanol whilst they were alongside demonstrates the ease and minimal infrastructure requirements associated with methanol as a marine fuel.
Methanol is widely available in the Port of Houston thanks to the presence of major petrochemicals hubs and significant storage capacity, more than 275,000MT of the fuel is available at the port.
The Port of Houston aims to become carbon neutral in the next 30 years. A key pillar of the port’s strategy is the deployment of alternative fuels and clean energy sources.
Production of green methanol from sustainable sources such as sustainable bio-mass or renewable energy is growing and highly scalable. Proman is investing in its own low-carbon and green methanol production capabilities, including a new 100,000 tonne per year methanol facility in development in North America.
The project is currently being constructed with a target start of operations in 2025. The facility will produce bio-methanol from non-recyclable forestry residues and municipal solid waste and will substantially contribute to the circular economy.
News of this first US Gulf methanol barge-to-ship bunkering comes ahead of the naming ceremony for Stena Promise in the Port of Rotterdam.
Rotterdam was the site of Proman Stena Bulk’s first barge-to-ship methanol bunkering, in August 2022, when Stena Pro Patria took on the fuel during a regularly scheduled port call.
