The Netherlands-headed Damen Shipyards Group, an international shipbuilding company, Caterpillar Marine, part of the US-headed global manufacturer of heavy machinery and engines Caterpillar Inc., and Cat dealer Pon Power, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) aiming to develop methanol-powered vessels that enable the decarbonization of marine operations.
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With the production of over 150 vessels annually, Damen Shipyards Group continues to offer customers onsite and remote services, expertise, and now an opportunity to support their climate-related goals.
Under the MoU, Damen Shipyards will collaborate with a team of experts from Caterpillar and the Cat Dealer, Pon Power, to learn how to adopt methanol as a fuel in marine applications, including aspects related to bunkering, storage, management, and conversion to provide the power required by a vessel.
Caterpillar would develop and provide the methanol power train to be integrated into a Damen-designed and built methanol-capable vessel.
Our collaboration with Damen Shipyards Group and Pon Power brings together immeasurable expertise that allows us to learn together and innovate to address the great challenge of the energy transition. This is an exciting technical challenge to tackle, but most importantly it fosters our industry’s goal to reach sustainable, low-carbon operations, commented Brad Johnson, VP and General Manager of Caterpillar Marine.
The methanol-ready CAT 3500E series dual-fuel pilot engines will be delivered to Damen by Pon Power in 2024 when the process of integration and testing will begin.
This will be a complex undertaking involving integrating the engines with all aspects of the ship’s control, monitoring, ventilation, and other systems and will take place in close cooperation with the classification societies.
The aim is to have methanol-powered vessels to be series production-ready in 2026.
We’re delighted to be working with Caterpillar on this ground-breaking project. It is of mutual benefit to all the parties involved to begin operating the pilot engines as soon as possible so that we can experience what it means to use methanol as fuel in a maritime environment. We are very happy to be continuing our longstanding relationship and are very confident that together we will be able to offer our end customers the sustainable solutions they are asking for, in the near future, said Joost Mathôt, Director of Products at Damen’s Workboats division.
Electric and methanol models
Damen’s strategy is to offer fully-electric models offering bollard pulls of 40, 60, and 80 tonnes respectively, and methanol-fueled models with 60, 80, and 100 tonnes bollard pull.
Electrically-powered tugs are ideal for zero-emission operations in harbors and terminals where low-cost electricity can be easily accessed between assignments via onshore infrastructure.
With its greater energy density than batteries, methanol delivers increased energy storage capacity, making it suited for longer-duration operations while remaining carbon dioxide (CO2) neutral.
All the vessels will be equipped with a standard Emission Reduction System developed and delivered by Damen Sustainable Solutions B.V.
For Damen, the introduction of methanol-fueled propulsion systems is the logical next step in our drive towards low-emission propulsion right across our product range and an integral part of our drive to become the world’s most sustainable shipbuilder, commented Joost Mathôt.
Caterpillar recognizes customers’ needs to operate reliable vessels that minimize current and long-term environmental impacts.
Our products power many vessels working around the world. We’re committed to helping our customers achieve their climate-related goals by developing expanded offerings across renewable fuels like biofuels and methanol, as well as solutions that drive efficiency in the use and conversion of energy such as integrated hybrid power trains. Our collaboration with Damen Shipyards Group and Pon Power will enable us to better understand the opportunities and challenges of decarbonizing maritime operations via green methanol, ended Brad Johnson.
