Recent orders for two-stroke, methanol dual-fuel propulsion could signal a shift, but 75% of orders for PCTCs in 2023 were for LNG-powered tonnage, says analyst
Wallenius Wilhelmsen made quite a splash in 2023 when it confirmed an order to build four 9,300-CEU pure car truck carriers (PCTCs) that would each have two-stroke methanol dual-fuel engine technology. Each of roros would be equipped with a two-stroke, methanol dual-fuel MAN B&W 7S60ME-C10.5-LGIM engine.
In March 2024, the Oslo-listed roro marine transportation provider exercised options increasing its order to eight 9,300-CEU PCTCs with Jingling Shipyard, with options for eight more vessels.
During its initial order in 2023, Wallenius Wilhelmsen executive vice president and chief operating officer, Xavier Leroi, said he views the newbuilds as a means to provide a net-zero, emission-free service by 2027: “We believe that methanol is the fastest way to net-zero emissions.”
MAN Energy Solutions (MAN ES) two-stroke business head, Bjarne Foldager, fully expects “methanol to figure prominently as a future fuel across vehicle carriers and, indeed eventually, all vessel segments.”
Last year, China Merchants Shipping Energy ordered four 7,800-CEU PCTCs and two 9,000-CEU vessels, with options for additional vessels.
LNG still dominates
But despite the potential shift towards methanol, LNG remains the fuel of choice for lower-carbon shipping, with PCTC owners among its strongest supporters. Overall, there are 14 methanol dual-fuel-powered car carriers on order. By contrast, there are 27 LNG-powered car carriers in operation and another 152 on order, according to DNV Alternative Fuels Insight.
An analysis by leading energy market consultancy Rystad Energy concludes that LNG’s price competitiveness, abundant supply and well-developed infrastructure give it an advantage over other alternative marine fuels.
“More than 2,400 vessels are equipped to operate on LNG globally, with another 1,000 vessels ordered, yet to be delivered,” observes the Norwegian energy analyst. “It is worth noting that half of operational LNG-fuelled vessels are carrying LNG from producers to customers. These ships use boil-off gas as fuel, reducing their reliance on external LNG bunkering. Even excluding LNG carriers, the fuel remains the most common choice for dual-fuel ships in the global fleet,” it says.
PCTCs have emerged as a significant driver of LNG adoption in the shipping industry, alongside container ships and LNG carriers. More than 75% of new car carrier orders in 2023 were specified with LNG dual-fuel engines, according to Rystad Energy. “Many of these new ships can be adapted to use alternative clean fuels, such as ammonia or methanol, making them sustainable over the longer term,” says the energy analyst.
LNG can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by about 21% on a well-to-wake basis.
World’s largest PCTCs
LNG received a boost of confidence in April when an order for four MAN B&W 8S60ME-GI LNG dual-fuel engines was announced for a series of the world’s largest PCTCs ordered to date. Chinese shipbuilder Guangzhou Shipbuilding International (GSI) ordered the engines for four PCTCs being built for South Korean shipowner HMM, formerly known as Hyundai Merchant Marine.
BRL Weekly Newbuilding contracts reported GSI and Shanghai Waigaoqiao would equally share in the construction of these massive roro vessels, which will each have capacities of 10,800 CEU (car-equivalent unit). BRL reported these record capacity vessels will only be able to serve South Korean ports and “will be restricted elsewhere” on the basis of their size. Each PCTC will cost US$122M and be delivered in 2027.
MAN ES licensee CSIC Diesel Engine Co will build the Mk10.5 dual-fuel engines in China, which will feature exhaust gas recirculation emissions-reduction technology for Tier III NOx compliance.
“Methanol is the fastest way to net-zero emissions”
Upon delivery, these new PCTCs will go out on charter to Hyundai Glovis Co, Ltd, the logistics company headquartered in Seoul, South Korea and part of the Hyundai Kia Automotive Group.
It has been almost a decade since MAN ES, then known as MAN Diesel & Turbo, received an order for the first two LNG-powered PCTCs in the world from United European Car Carriers (UECC). Those medium-sized vessels were each equipped with a single two-stroke MAN B&W 8S50ME-GI Mk 8.2 engines, with a maximum output of 11,000 kW at 113 rpm.
Pioneering UECC — which is jointly owned by Wallenius Wilhelmsen and NYK — has made maritime environmental history in the auto carrier segment several times. It piloted a 10% biogas mix in the LNG-powered Auto Energy at the port of Gothenburg in 2020, has tested biofuels in its older vessels to reduce CO2 emissions and its Auto Advance was the first LNG-battery hybrid PCTC in the world to begin trading in 2021. Among the Oslo-based marine roro company’s latest environmental forays, testing cashew nutshell liquid-based biofuel.
Shore-power ready
In January, Singapore’s Eastern Pacific Shipping (EPS) bolstered its investment in LNG dual-fuel tonnage with orders for two more 7,000-CEU PCTCs at China Merchants Jingling Shipyard in Nanjing. With this latest order, EPS has ordered 12 LNG-capable PCTCs at the Chinese yard in Nanjing, and it also has six more at China Merchants Jingling’s shipyard in Weihai. Each auto carrier has 12 cargo decks and an overall length of 199.9 m, beam of 38 m and speed of 19.5 knots. LNG fuel is stored in two IMO Type C 2,000-m3 fuel tanks.
But beyond two-stroke LNG dual-fuel engines, this series of car carriers also incorporates battery storage and shore-power technologies, as well as shaft generators to lower fuel consumption and increase energy efficiency. Shore-power connections are of particular importance to these ships as regulations come into effect. Auto carriers will have to plug in to shore power or use an alternative pollution control system at California ports, for example, under state law starting 2025. A Marine Exhaust Treatment System (METS), also known as a “bonnet” is employed at the Port of Los Angeles to capture air pollution from ships that are at berth and are not equipped with shore-power connections. The barge-based system captures about 95% of the nitrogen oxide (NOx) and particulate matter from the ship’s smokestack that are generated by operating its auxiliary engines while the ship is docked.
FuelEU regulations require container and passenger ships (of 5,000 gt or greater) to connect to shore power at main European Union ports in the trans-European network (TEN-T) starting 1 January 2030.
A working paper by the International Council on Clean Transportation recommends that the regulations should be expanded to require all ship types of 400 gt or greater to connect to shore power.
© 2023 Riviera Maritime Media Ltd.