Tsuneishi Shipbuilding's Zhoushan unit has delivered its fourth 5,900-TEU container ship capable of running on methanol as well as conventional marine fuels.

The vessel was delivered by Tsuneishi Group (Zhoushan) Shipbuilding Inc. (TZS), the Japanese shipbuilder's unit in Zhoushan, China, it said in a press release on Tuesday.

The delivery follows TZS's third methanol dual-fuel 5,900-TEU container ship, as the shipyard builds up experience with vessels designed to operate on alternative fuels, a capability that now features in a growing share of the global newbuild orderbook.

Methanol is regarded as one of the more practical alternative fuels for shipping because it stays liquid at ambient temperature and can be handled using relatively familiar infrastructure compared with some other emerging marine fuels, which require cryogenic or pressurised storage. The container segment has led orders for methanol-fuelled newbuilds, with carriers including Maersk and CMA CGM booking large dual-fuel series in recent years. Because methanol contains no sulphur, burning it eliminates sulphur oxide emissions, but its greenhouse gas benefit depends on the feedstock: methanol produced from fossil sources offers little reduction, while 'green' methanol made from biomass or from captured CO2 and renewable hydrogen cuts lifecycle emissions, and supplies of green methanol remain scarce relative to the growing dual-fuel fleet.

Tsuneishi said it will continue to develop and build vessels using alternative fuels, with demand for lower-emission ships expected to grow as the industry's decarbonisation efforts gather pace. Those efforts are anchored by the International Maritime Organization's revised greenhouse gas strategy, adopted in 2023, which targets net-zero emissions from international shipping by or around 2050.

Source: Ship & Bunker