Idemitsu and Consort Bunkers eye green methanol bunkering in Asia

Japan’s Idemitsu Kosan plans to partner with Singapore-headquartered bunker supplier Consort Bunkers to supply green methanol in Singapore and other major ports in East Asia.

IMAGE: Cargo terminal at the Port of Singapore. Getty Images

Idemitsu will procure bio- and e-methanol for marine fuel supply, while Consort Bunkers will carry out physical deliveries in Singapore and other major East Asian ports, according to ongoing discussions.

Consort Bunkers currently supplies conventional fuels and biofuel blends across Singapore, the UAE and China, covering major ports such as Fujairah, Khor Fakkan, Jebel Ali, Sharjah, Zhoushan and Ningbo.

The company has also ordered at least 20 IMO Type II bunkering vessels capable of handling methanol and pure biofuels (B100), according to its website. The first of these newbuilds was delivered in August 2024.

Neither company has yet provided details on the timeline of this initiative or the source of the green methanol.

But the ambition to develop a green methanol bunkering supply chain reflects growing interest among Asian fuel suppliers in methanol as a low-emission marine fuel.

Recent bunkering operations underscore this trend.

Over the past week, Chimbusco Pan Nation and Sinopec (Hong Kong) Petroleum each carried out bio-methanol bunkering operations, while SIPG Energy completed a separate delivery in China.

“In the shipping industry, under the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) goal of achieving net-zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from international shipping by around 2050, the adoption of fuels with lower GHG emissions for ships as alternatives to heavy oil is gaining momentum,” Idemitsu explained.

Among these options, methanol is seen as a “promising” fuel because it can be handled using much of the existing bunkering infrastructure, the company added.

By Konica Bhatt

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