Proman Stena Bulk, the joint venture between tanker company Stena Bulk and methanol producer Proman, formally christened Stena Prosperous during a ceremony at the Marina Bay Cruise Centre in Singapore. Stena Prosperous is the last of six vessels in Proman Stena Bulk’s joint venture fleet to be formally named, following the order for the six methanol-fueled tankers being placed in 2019, and the first vessel being delivered in June 2022.

After the ceremony, the 49,900 DWT IMOIIMeMAX vessel will be bunkered with a 20/80 green/conventional methanol blend, which delivers CO₂e savings of 31% compared to the same voyage operated on Very Low Sulphur Fuel Oil (VLSFO), while making additional particulate matter (PM), sulphur oxides (SO_x), and nitrogen oxides (NO_x) savings.

The blend delivers greenhouse gas emissions reductions below the 2025 target required by Fuel EU Maritime, further underlining methanol’s viability as a pathway fuel.

Using methanol instead of conventional marine fuels virtually eliminates particulate matter and SO_x, and cuts NO_x by up to 80% during combustion. Technologies such as carbon capture, storage and utilization used in the production process cut emissions further, and green methanol produced from biogas can bring more than 90% GHG emissions savings.

By increasing the amount of green methanol in the mix as its production ramps up, ship owners can deliver on the pathway for emissions reductions set by the IMO and the EU. The viability of this is demonstrated by the 20/80 blend used by Stena Prosperous.

All six vessels are in commercial operation, running on methanol. Two of the vessels are long-term time-chartered to provide the market with opportunities to gain wider operational experience of methanol as a marine fuel.

Stena Prosperous has benefited from the $300 million already invested by the Low Emission Methanol Shipping Company—the LEMSCO Fund—an industry-first investment fund targeting sustainable investments under Article 9 of the EU’s Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation.

The LEMSCO Fund was established by Proman and Stena to deliver the critical shipping and associated infrastructure needed for the energy transition. While LEMSCO already holds Proman Stena Bulk’s joint venture fleet, the Fund can also provide financing solutions to enable other third-party vessel owners to transition their own vessel fleets.

With four of the methanol-fueled vessels in operation for the whole of 2023, Proman Stena Bulk has been able to track and assess the emissions performance of its fleet. This analysis shows that when the four vessels operate on methanol instead of VLSFO, the GHG emissions savings for a full year are around 5,500 tonnes, measured on a tank-to-wake basis.

In addition, the ships have demonstrated market-leading operational efficiency performance, as measured by the IMO’s Energy Efficiency Design Index (EEDI) methodology. For example, Stena Pro Patria has demonstrated operating performance 11% beyond the IMO’s 2025 target, setting a new efficiency benchmark for methanol-fueled tankers.

The six-ship fleet is currently crewed and operated by Stena Sphere company Northern Marine Group, which has highlighted the technical similarities of the tankers to conventionally fueled vessels—meaning that they do not require a completely new set of operating procedures.