X-Press Feeders has announced it has started Europe’s first scheduled feeder network in which the vessels are powered by green methanol.
The milestone coincided with the naming ceremony in Rotterdam yesterday (9 July) of the group’s first dual fuel methanol vessel, Eco Maestro.
The 1,250 TEU (twenty-foot equivalent unit) containership is the first of 14 dual fuel methanol vessels X-Press Feeders has on order. The company plans to deploy these vessels mostly on routes in Europe, thus ‘creating Europe’s first feeder network powered by green methanol.’
Explaining the reason to choose the Port of Rotterdam as the base for its green methanol-powered feeder network, X-Press Feeders highlighted that the Dutch port, Europe’s largest, is ‘fully equipped to handle green methanol refuelling.’
As previously reported, in July 2023, X-Press Feeders and OCI Global signed an agreement for the supply of green methanol in Rotterdam.
‘Today marks a significant milestone in sustainable shipping in Europe because companies here now have a regular scheduled network that can ship goods in a way that has less impact on the environment, helping companies to better achieve their sustainability goals,’ said X-Press Feeders Chief Operating Officer, Francis Goh.
‘X-Press Feeders chose northern Europe for the first routes in the network because we found that customers in this part of Europe were most receptive to our plans for sustainable shipping,” he says.
‘We plan to steadily expand the green network across Europe as we take delivery of our dual-fuel vessels.’
The Eco Maestro is the first vessel to join the network while the second dual-fuel vessel will join by Q3 2024.
‘X-Press Feeders is committed to playing a vital role in decarbonising the maritime industry and being at the forefront of innovation and sustainability,’ added Goh.
Related: GLOBAL: X-Press Feeders takes delivery of its first dual-fuel methanol vessel
