‘Green’ Methanol Supplied to Container Ship at Ulsan Port for 1st Time in World

President Kim Jae-gyun of Ulsan Port Authority (UPA). (Photo: UPA)

Ulsan Port Authority said on July 17 that 1,000 tons of green methanol was successfully supplied to a container ship at Ulsan Port, marking the first time that has ever happened anywhere in the world.

The supply of green methanol is owed to a project to verify bunkering of eco-friendly fuels at a port to invigorate the Korean eco-friendly ship fuel industry, being implemented by the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries (MOF). It also has support from fast-tracking administrative procedures and reductions of port facility fares.

Earlier this year, UPA began to form a task force with companies representing shipping, shipbuilding, tank terminal, eco-friendly fuel production, and ship fuel supply and conducted preparatory work, such as legal and administrative procedure execution and preventative steps against safety accidents.

The 21,000TEU container ship was built at Hyundai Mipo Shipyard for A.P. Moller-Maersk Group of Denmark.

The ship is the first of 19 methanol-fueled container ships being built in Korea for A.P. Moller-Maersk.

A view of the A.P. Moller-Maersk, a container ship that was fueled by green methanol at Ulsan Port on July 17 before traveling to Copenhagen, Denmark. (Photo: MOF)

The ship, which left Ulsan Port on July 18, was to travel 11,500 km to Copenhagen, Denmark, via the Suez Canal and Port of Rotterdam. It is predicted to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by more than 80 percent compared to the conventional fuel.

The ship was supplied with 1,250 tons of bio diesel, equivalent to about 900,000 1.8-liter waste cooking oil containers, at the eighth wharf of Busan Main Port on July 16, opening a new chapter in bunkering of ship fuel through resources recycling.

Morten Bo Christiansen, vice president and head of Decarbonization at A.P. Moller-Maersk, said, “I’m very pleased to join forces with Ulsan Port to the first journey by the world’s first green methanol-fueled container ship, and the journey, a significant process of the group’s realizing net zero by 2040, is expected to serve as a good lesson for the operation of large-sized methanol ships, to be delivered in the future.”

UPA President Kim Jae-gyun said, “Ulsan Port is the world’s No. 4 liquid port capable of handling about 200 million tons of chemicals and oils annually, with HD Hyundai Group, the world’ top shipbuilder, located at the background, the port is an optimal location as a global eco-friendly energy supply center.”

The world’s first supply of green methanol and bio diesel for the commercial operation of a container ship will be an opportunity for Ulsan Port to be known as an eco-friendly energy port leader to the world, he added.

MOF Minister Cho Seung-hwan said, “Now that the International Maritime Organization (IMO) on July 7 adopted the 2023 IMO Strategy on Reduction of GHG Emissions to reach net-zero GHG emissions from international shipping by 2050, the eco-friendly ship fuel market is predicted to jump down the road, and we’ll provide full support to ramp up the competitiveness of Koreans ports and explore opportunities to pioneer the eco-friendly ship fuel export market.”

Meanwhile, Odfjell Korea, the supplier of green methanol, has two wharf storage facilities capable of supplying 310,000 kl. The company is rated top in the global tank terminal safety category.

UPA Attracts New Shipping Liner Service Linking Ulsan Port and Haiphong Port

A new shipping liner service, connecting Ulsan Port and Haiphong, Vietnam, dubbed “KTH Service,” was inaugurated.

Ulsan Port Authority said the Ever Chaste, an 1,820 TEU ship, made its first call at Ulsan Port on June 15. Evergreen Shipping Agency Korea, the operator of the KTH Service, are to put three ships on the route and enter Ulsan New Container Terminal once per week.

The destinations of the new shipping liner service are Hakata, Ulsan, Busan, Gwangyang, Qingtao, Taipei, Kaohsiung and Haiphong. The new shipping liner service is expected to create about 24,000 TEU cargo volumes at Ulsan Port annually.