Proman Stena Bulk completes barge-to-ship methanol bunkering in Houston

Proman Stena Bulk has successfully bunkered two of its tankers with methanol in the Port of Houston.

PHOTO: Proman Stena Bulk’s tankers Stena Pro Marine and Stena Prosperous. Proman

Proman Stena Bulk is a joint venture (JV) between tanker owner Stena Bulk and methanol producer Proman.

The JV’s tankers - Stena Pro Marine and Stena Prosperous - were bunkered with 1,408 mt and 1,203 mt of methanol, respectively, while offloading clean petroleum products in Houston.

Methanol was bunkered via barge, which marked “the first ever barge-to-ship methanol bunkering on the US Gulf Coast”, according to Proman.

The bunker operations were carried out with US-based tank barge operator Kirby.

“The Port of Houston is a major global cargo hub with significant latent methanol storage capacity. These qualities made it a natural testbed for our first US ship-to-ship bunkering,” Proman’s executive director at marketing, logistics and shipping, Anita Gajadhar, says.

Methanol is widely available in Houston. The port has a storage capacity of more than 275,000 mt for methanol.

Both vessels are on time charters with an unnamed global trading house.

By Tuhin Roy

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