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MAN Energy Solutions and German shipowner Wessels Marine have announced a technical showcase whereby the 2017-retrofitted Wes Amelie, a 1,036 teu feeder containership, will use liquefied synthetic natural gas (SNG) produced from renewable electrical energy as drop-in fuel. The companies are cooperating on the Wes Amelie project with Nauticor, an LNG transportation company, and charterer Unifeeder. To demonstrate that SNG can successfully be used as shipping fuel, 20 of the 120 tons of LNG that the Wes Amelie typically uses per round trip will be replaced by what MAN described in a release yesterday as “climate-neutral” SNG. As a result, CO2 emissions are expected to decline by 56 tons for this trip. Automobile manufacturer Audi’s Power-to-Gas facility in Werlte, where a liquefaction plant is currently under construction, will provide the SNG, which will be generated by wind energy. The SNG trip will take place after the completion of the liquefaction plant in Q2 2020.

In 2017, the sale of bunker oil—fuel for shipping—in the Rotterdam bunker port diminished from 10.1 million m3 to 9.9 million m3. Most bunkers contain fuel oil, in 2017, 8.3 million m3. The throughput of bunkered liquefied natural gas (LNG) increased from less than 100 tonnes to 1500 tonnes during the same period. The port of Rotterdam is the largest port in Europe. The increase in LNG bunkers was mainly due to the Wes Amelie, the world’s first container ship that was converted to LNG propulsion. The vessel regularly bunkers at the City Terminal at the Prins Willem Alexanderhaven.

The world first shortsea container vessel with LNG is operated by Unifeeder. Unifeeder offer multimodal shipment by the world’s first LNG container vessel. The environment has always been a major factor when the European industry choses partners. At Unifeeder, we are proud of being front runners operating and testing the first retrofitted LNG container vessel in the world, says Shortsea Director Niels Kjaer-Richardt. The positive impact on the environment is significant. Environmentally friendly solutions are asked for whenever we discuss annual contracts with our customers. Even though the technical solutions are not yet optimal, it is important that we search for all options in the market to support our customers, conclude Shortsea Director Niels Kjaer-Richardt. The vessel is primarily used on one of Unifeeder's routings between Rotterdam, The Baltics and Poland. c/v “Wes Amelie” is the first vessel of its kind worldwide that has been converted to an LNG propulsion system. When using LNG, the pollutant emissions is drastically reduced (sulfur oxide (Sox) approx. >99%, nitrogen oxide (NOx) approx. 90% and CO2 up to 20%). https://www.marinelink.com/news/retrofitted-lngpowered430103