Damen and Cat ink MOU on dual-fuel methanol engines

Written by Nick Blenkey
methanol fueled engine MOU

L to R: Derrick York (senior vice president, Caterpillar Oil & Gas and Marine Division), Arnout Damen (CEO, Damen Shipyards) and Kees-Jan Mes (managing director, Pon Power).

Damen Shipyards, Caterpillar Inc and Pon Power have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the joint development of a series of dual-fuel methanol/diesel powered tugs.

This follows Damen’s recent delivery of its first, all-electric RSD-E Tug 2513, Sparky, to Ports of Auckland, New Zealand. Damen says it aims to become “the world’s most sustainable shipbuilder” and that its long-term strategy to achieve this includes offering a full range of sustainable tugboats featuring both zero emission electric and carbon neutral methanol-powered vessels.

The methanol-ready CAT 3500E series dual-fuel pilot engines will be delivered to Damen by Cat dealer 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 tugs ready for series production in 2026.

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. However, with its greater energy density than batteries, methanol delivers increased energy storage capacity, making it suited for longer duration operations while remaining CO2 neutral.

All the vessels will be equipped with a standard Emission Reduction System developed and delivered by Damen Sustainable Solutions B.V.

“We’re delighted to be working with Caterpillar on this ground-breaking project,” said Joost Mathôt, director of products at Damen’s Workboats division. “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 a fuel in a maritime environment. We are very happy to be continuing our longstanding partnerships 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.”

“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,” said Brad Johnson, vice president and general manager, Caterpillar Marine. “This is an exciting technical challenge to tackle, but most importantly, it fosters our industry’s goal to reach sustainable, low carbon operations.”

Categories: Engines & Fuel, News Tags: