Canada’s Waterfront Shipping Company, a subsidiary of methanol producer and supplier Methanex Corporation, is adding eight new methanol dual-fuel tankers to its fleet.

The eight 49,999DWT vessels have been ordered at South Korea’s Hyundai Mipo Dockyard and are scheduled for delivery between 2021 and 2023.

Ordered in partnership with Marinvest, NYK, Meiji Shipping, KSS Line and MOL, the new vessels will add to Waterfront’s existing fleet of 11 methanol-fuelled ships.

“We are proud that approximately 60% of our 30-ship fleet will be powered by lower emission, methanol-fuel technology upon delivery of this latest order,” said Paul Hexter, president of Waterfront Shipping. “Having operated methanol-fuelled vessels for over four years now, we know that methanol is a practical, cost-competitive and safe marine fuel for the commercial shipping industry in the post-IMO 2020 marketplace. We are excited to be expanding our methanol-fuelled fleet with these new vessels that benefit from the latest technological advances to optimize engine efficiency and performance.”

The vessels will feature MAN second-generation B&W ME-LGIM two-stroke dual-fuel engines, which can run on methanol or traditional marine fuels

Thomas Hansen, head of two-stroke promotion & customer support at MAN Energy Solutions, commented: “The ME-LGIM dual-fuel engine operates on methanol, heavy fuel oil (HFO), marine diesel oil (MDO) or marine gas oil (MGO). When operating on methanol, the engine uses HFO, MDO or MGO as a pilot fuel, significantly reducing emissions of NOx , SOx, CO2 and PM. Any operational switch between methanol and other fuels is seamless.”

Waterfront Shipping currently has a fleet of 30 tankers and says this new order is part of the company’s fleet renewal program.