A first mover in methanol large-bore engine technology, MAN ES is expanding its portfolio of small-bore, methanol dual-fuel gensets, offering wider choices for newbuilds
With service lives of 20 years or more, newbuilds will have to be prepared to burn today’s fossil fuels and tomorrow’s low- and zero-carbon alternatives, as shipowners strive for a net-zero future. Increasingly, shipowners are specifying fuel-flexible prime movers and gensets to ensure their newbuilds are prepared for the energy transition.
Roughly 50% of the gross tonnage (GT) on order, and about 55% of the GT contracted in the first two months of 2024, was alternative-fuel capable — some 115 ships of 6.8M GT — reports Clarksons Research. Among these newbuilds, 25 ships were ordered with methanol dual-fuel propulsion.
Engine makers are answering the bell, rolling out a widening portfolio of dual-fuel engines. One is Danish engine designer MAN Energy Solutions (MAN ES), which was a first mover in two-stroke, large-bore methanol dual-fuel engine technology. It continues to expand its offerings for small-bore, dual-fuel gensets. It has secured orders for three of its new methanol dual-fuel MAN 6L21/31DF-M gensets for a newbuild chemical tanker.
“Seeing our trusted MAN L21/31 gensets go into these ships as a methanol-fuelled version shows that maritime decarbonisation is a prominent consideration for shipowners in all vessel segments and sizes,” said MAN ES country manager, Denmark, Bjarne Foldager. “It also clearly illustrates, regardless of the market one serves as shipowner, that our broad, dual-fuel portfolio enables everyone to take part in the green transition.”
“There is potential to supply 1M tonnes per annum of low-carbon methanol by 2030”
A new 7,990-dwt IMO Type II chemical bunker tanker being built in China will be equipped with the MAN 6L21/31DF-M gensets. The dual-fuel engines, designed in Holeby, Denmark, will form part of a diesel-electric propulsion system on board the vessel, with electrical motors driving twin fixed-pitch propellers via gearboxes; an onboard battery-storage system will optimise the use of the dual-fuel generators.
The engines will be built in China by MAN’s licensee in that country, CMP, an engine-manufacturing division of CSSC.
Methanol in Singapore
Scheduled for delivery during Q4 2025, the bunker tanker will operate at the Port of Singapore under charter to deliver marine fuels. The city-state is laying plans for the steady supply of methanol at the port from 2025 onwards to meet anticipated bunkering requirements for methanol-fueled vessels.
The Maritime Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) began soliciting proposals last year to supply methanol bunkering at the port, starting in 2025.
In mid-April at a conference held during Singapore Maritime Week, Singapore senior minister of transport, Amy Khor, said submissions to the expression of interest “have the potential to supply over 1M tonnes per annum of low-carbon methanol by 2030” at the port.
Well-proven engine
The legacy version of the MAN L21/31 engine has notched over 2,750 sales and the engine maker said its offering has established itself in the medium-speed, small-bore engine for genset and diesel-electric propulsion.
The announcement of the order follows on the heels of a sub-agreement inked in February between MAN ES and the China Classification Society (CCS) covering the new MAN L21/31DF-M genset. This sub-agreement builds on a strategic framework agreement (SFA) between the two parties that was struck in September 2023 that eases support for new MAN ES engines in the Chinese market.
This latest deal will see the engine maker and class society support the new engine in the Chinese market, including all activities associated with its planned Type Approval Test (TAT) in China in Q4 2024.
MAN ES marine product department general manager, Jiang Botao, said the new methanol dual-fuel engine “provides shipowners with more choices to achieve their decarbonisation goals.”
Fuel flexibility
A new Polar ice-class cruise ship newbuilding under construction in Chile will rely on four MAN 6L21/31 Mk2 part-load optimised (PLO) gensets for its diesel-electric propulsion.
Called Magellan Discoverer, the 94-m cruise ship is being built for Chilean tour operator, Antarctica21, which operates fly-and-cruise expeditions to Antarctica and sea voyages to the Falkland Islands, South Georgia and Antarctica. The expedition vessel will accommodate 76 guests in 40 cabins across three passenger decks.
Antarctic21 president, Jaime Vásquez, said that besides emissions, a strong factor in the four-stroke, small-bore genset’s selection was fuel savings. “This engine sets the standard for the lowest fuel consumption in its category,” he said.
“Maritime decarbonisation is a prominent consideration for shipowners”
The MAN 21/31 Mk2 PLO engine maintains a significantly reduced fuel consumption, up to 9 g/kWh at 75% MCR. Fuel flexibility is a benefit of the Mk2 engine, which can burn conventional marine fuels like HFO/LSFO, MDO and MGO, complying with new ISO 8217:2024 fuels, as well as sustainable fuels like biodiesel FAME and HVO-100.
The MAN 21/31 Mk2 PLO engine is designed as ‘methanol-ready’ with an approval-in-principle issued by class society DNV for retrofit to methanol operation in the future.
Like 2019-built Magellan Explorer, Magellan Discoverer complies with the stringent Tier III emissions standards thanks to its hybrid diesel-electric propulsion and heat recovery systems.
Chilean shipbuilder ASENAV ordered the vessel’s four MAN 6L21/31 Mk2 PLO gensets, which will be integrated with MAN ES’ proprietary low-pressure selective catalytic reduction system, that delivers NOx reduction rates of up to 90%.
Magellan Discoverer will be delivered in December 2026, and join the company’s fleet in time for the 2026-27 Antarctic cruise season.
Small-bore genset
In April, MAN ES extended its methanol-capable DF portfolio further with another well-proven small-bore engine, the MAN 27/38DF-M engine.
The maker said the basic 27/38 engine has more than 200,000 operating hours and 3,600 engines were in service; the new methanol dual-fuelled version 27/38DF-M uses the same engine design as its 27/38 Mk 2. With an output range from 1,980 to 3,690 kW, the engine is designed to optimise the methanol fuel share, minimising its pilot fuel requirements. The first deliveries of the engine will be in 2027.
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