China Merchants takes delivery of methanol-capable car carrier

The ship was built to carry electric and plug-in hybrid cars and will add capacity to China’s vehicle exports, China Classification Society said.

IMAGE: CM Wuhan at its naming and delivery ceremony in Haimen, China. China Classification Society

Chinese shipbuilder China Merchants Heavy Industry (Jiangsu) handed over the ship, named CM Wuhan, at Nantong in Jiangsu on 16 October. China Merchants RoRo took delivery through a subsidiary, it said in a stock exchange filing.

CM Wuhan can carry 7,800 car equivalent units (CEU), and is the first methanol-capable roro vessel classed solely by China Classification Society, the class society said.

Its dual-fuel engines can run on methanol or conventional marine fuel. They meet the IMO’s Tier III standard. Tier III is the IMO’s strictest limit on nitrogen oxides (NOx), gases that cause smog and acid rain, and applies when ships sail in designated emission control areas.

The ship also has a high-voltage shore power connection, so it can switch off its engines and draw electricity from the grid while at berth.

The release does not say which routes the ship will operate on or where it will bunker methanol.

Last month, another methanol-capable car carrier, Guangrong, took 2,300 mt of methanol at Guangzhou’s Nansha automobile terminal before sailing for Europe, in the port’s first methanol bunkering of a roro vessel.

By Gautamee Hazarika

Please get in touch with comments or additional info to news@engine.online