5 April 2024 (Lloyd's List) - SINGAPORE-based X-Press Feeders will launch two ‘green corridors’ in the Baltic Sea and Scandinavia through the deployment of two dual-fuel vessels using bio-methanol later this year.
The company said one vessel would operate on the route between Rotterdam, Antwerp-Bruges, Klaipeda and Riga (Green Baltic X-Press), while the other would serve Rotterdam, Antwerp-Bruges, Helsinki, Tallinn and Hamina (Green Finland X-Press).
The services are scheduled to start in the third quarter of 2024.
The dual-fuel feeders will bunker with bio-methanol from Dutch supplier OCI Global as part of the companies’ supply agreement. OCI’s bio-methanol cuts greenhouse gas emissions by 60%, X-Press Feeders said.
The company also signed a memorandum of understanding with six European ports, Antwerp-Bruges, Talliinn, Helsinki, Hamina, Riga and Klaipeda, to accelerate the establishment of green corridors in Scandinavia and the Baltic Sea.
X-Press Feeders has14 dual-fuel methanol feeders on order with eight set for delivery in 2024.
Separately, the UK government has launched a bidding process for access to £1.5m in funding to conduct feasibility studies on green corridor projects.
The funding is being made available via the UK Shore agency and Innovate UK as part of the wider £206m package launched in 2022.
