Unifeeder Group has signed a long-term time-charter agreement for two new methanol-capable container feeder vessels and has an option for additional two similar vessels. German-based ship owning group Elbdeich Reederei will build and manage the 1250 twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEU) vessels which will be delivered in 2026. Unifeeder Group plans to deploy the new vessels on its European network, where the new vessels will give a significant contribution to lower the emissions of the network.
Unifeeder has not announced the cost of the new vessels or the shipyard, but according to Trade Winds, the vessels will be built at Huangpu Wenchong Shipyard in China. This order is not the first time for Huangpu Wenchong Shipyard to undertake this type of vessel. In June this year, Huangpu Wenchong Shipyard, together with CSTC, signed a contract with Singaporean‘s X-Press Feeder Group, for the construction of 6+2 1250 TEU methanol dual-fuel container vessels.
The 1250 TEU methanol dual-fuel feeder container ship is designed by SDARI of CSSC, which is a highly efficient, economic and green Baltic-type feeder container ship. With a length of 148 meters, a breadth of 27.2 meters and a deadweight of 14,210 tons, the vessel is a new type of eco-friendly ship that adopts dual fuel of methanol and fuel oil as well as EGR, which can meet the emission requirements of Tier III of the IMO. The vessel is equipped with a shaft generator, which can fully recover the energy generated by the main engine, saving energy consumption and reducing the shipowner’s operating costs to a certain extent, making it an eco-friendly, energy-saving, high-efficiency and economical green ship.
Alongside parent company, DP World, Unifeeder is working with partners across the industry to find solutions to the challenge of renewable-methanol supply, which needs off-take commitments to build production at the scale that the industry needs to replace conventional fossil fuels.
In parallel to the delivery of the methanol capable vessels, Unifeeder will continue to improve the fuel efficiency of the entire fleet deployed and increase the use of biofuels on the conventional vessels in the fleet.
Jesper Kristensen, Group CEO of Unifeeder Group, said: “This is another significant step towards the green transformation of our fleet and our operations. These new vessels can be deployed across our current and future networks, offering a flexible, greener solution to our customers. As the number of methanol-capable vessels increases in both our operations and those of our customers, my hope is that this drives an increase in innovation and production amongst methanol producers. This will then complete a virtuous circle and ensure we can operate more and more methanol capable vessels with the right colour of methanol fuels in our networks.”
The investment in these new ships supports Unifeeder Group’s ambitious decarbonisation plan. Putting its targets well above that of the industry average, Unifeeder has committed to a 25 per cent reduction of emissions by 2030, carbon neutrality by 2040 and net zero emissions by 2050. It aims to achieve this by emphasising fuel-efficient practices, regular maintenance and refitting processes of the existing fleet and fostering a culture of learning and collaboration, sharing best practices across markets to drive effective carbon reduction strategies.
The newbuilding project is the latest step in a series of efforts that have been undertaken between Unifeeder and Elbdeich Reederei to reduce emissions within the jointly-operated Unifeeder fleet. This includes the first test of Synthetic Natural Gas as a fuel on a commercial vessel, the continuous use of biofuels and various vessel modifications made to reduce the fuel consumption of existing tonnage.