Swedish ship management company Marinvest has announced that its two methanol tankers, ‘Mari Jone’ and ‘Mari Boyle’, have each logged 10,000 operating hours on the alternative fuel. The company also reports that its fleet, which has been equipped accordingly, has completed a total of 50,000 operating hours on methanol.

The engines for the two ships were supplied by MAN Energy Solutions . The company’s ME-LGIM dual-fuel engines are designed for operation with methanol, heavy fuel oil (HFO), marine diesel oil (MDO), or marine gas oil (MGO) and operate according to the diesel principle, since methanol is a liquid fuel with a low flash point. They use HFO, MDO, or MGO as pilot fuel and supplement it with methanol. According to MAN Energy Solutions , this reduces CO2, NOx, and SOx emissions and prevents methane leakage . The switch between methanol and the second fuel takes place seamlessly during operation.

Methanol tankers have been sailing the world’s oceans for several years now. The new models use a small part of their cargo for their own propulsion.