X-Press puts into operation the first of 14 methanol vessels
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In Rotterdam, the Eco Maestro was christened, the first dual fuel container vessel to sail on methanol. Rotterdam will be the home port to all fourteen vessels of the Singapore X-Press Feeders.
X-press Feeders aims to have these ‘green vessels’ sail mainly on routes in Europe, which means there will be a first network of feeders sailing on green methanol in Europe. The Taiwan container shipping company Evergreen Feeders has signed a contract to that end with the Singapore feeder shipping company. The network consists of two liner services for now. The Green Finland X-Press (GFX) sails from Rotterdam to Antwerp, Helsinki (Finland), Tallinn (Estonia) and HaminaKotka (Finland). The Green Baltic X-Press also sails to Klaipėda (Lithuania) and Riga (Latvia) as well as Rotterdam and Antwerp.
Bunkering
The X-Press shipping company chose the port of Rotterdam as home base because the green methanol can be bunkered there. The company closed a deal for that last year with the Dutch fuel supplier OCI Global. Unibarge and TankMatch tankers will bunker the feeders.
The Port of Rotterdam Authority is pleased with the development. It stimulates the increased sustainability of maritime shipping by, for example, supporting seals of quality such as Green Award and Environmental Ship Index and making marine fuels in particular more sustainable.