Maersk order boosts MAN methanol engines count

The engines are destined for the six 17,000 teu container vessels Maersk ordered at Hyundai Heavy Industries earlier this month and will be capable of running on methanol and on conventional fuels. The engines will be built in Korea at Hyundai Heavy Industry’s engine machinery division.

Bjarne Foldager, Senior Vice President and Head of Two-Stroke Business, MAN Energy Solutions, said: “The adoption of methanol propulsion is gaining pace, behind which there are several drivers. Crucially, MAN B&W methanol engines are available and proven with the first engines having already entered service back in 2016.”

MAN said the 50-bore variants of its ME-LGIM engines have racked up over 140,000 hours of operation on methanol, a fuel it expects will account for 30% of dual-fuel engine orders within a few years.

“Additionally, as a fuel, methanol can be carbon-neutral when produced from renewable energy sources and bio-genic CO₂. The production capacity of such green methanol is currently increasing significantly; it is also liquid at ambient conditions, which simplifies tank design and minimises costs. Finally, our methanol engines only require a fuel-supply pressure of just 13 bar and a number of manufacturers already offer such fuel-supply systems today,” said Foldager.

Related:ABS to class more Maersk methanol-fuelled ships

From MAN’s forecast, it expects methanol, ammonia and LNG to dominate the dual-fuel engine mix in newbuilding contracting by the end of the decade.