MOL and WFS to build and charter up to three methanol carriers

Waterfront Shipping Company (WFS), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Methanex corporation, which provides 7.5m tons of the 60m ton global production of methanol, signed the deal with MOL and will employ the vessels after their delivery in 2016.

Minaminippon Shipbuilding will construct the vessels while Mitsui Engineering & Shipbuilding will build the vessels' engines, which will be the world's first flex-fuel engines, running on methanol, fuel oil, marine oil or gas oil.

With zero SOx emissions, the availability of methanol as a fuel for the vessels will be an option for conforming with MARPOL annex IV regulations for sulphur emissions, due to come into force in 2015, without the use of an exhaust gas cleaning system. The vessels will also be fitted with ballast water treatment systems and energy saving devices in front of and behind the propellor.