Svitzer, a Maersk-owned towage operator, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Houston-based Caterpillar Marine in order to adopt solutions that enable Svitzer to utilise methanol in their fleet.
Under the partnership, the two partners plan to work on the installation of dual-fuel methanol engines on new tugs as well as conversions of existing Cat® powered tugs, which comprise the majority of Svitzer’s fleet.
In particular, Svitzer is also using biofuels as part of its decarbonisation strategy in the form of its towage service called Ecotow. Also, Svitzer is aiming to achieve a 50% reduction in the CO2 intensity of its entire fleet by 2030 and become CO2 neutral across all scopes by 2040.
The Ecotow product exclusively uses sustainable second-generation biofuels, produced using waste material such as used cooking oil as feedstocks, certified by ISSC or RSB. More specifically, relative to marine diesel, these biofuels reduce carbon emissions by 100% on a tank-to-wake basis and about 90% on a well-to-wake basis.
Earlier, Caterpillar announced that Cat 3500-E series methanol-readiness announcement which was made in September 2022.
“Svitzer has a significant fleet of vessels powered by Cat systems, as well as ambitious decarbonization targets for our future fleet. It is therefore of utmost importance that we join forces with strategic collaborators, such as Caterpillar Marine, to find solutions for both existing and future vessels,” commented Kasper Karlsen, global chief operating officer of Svitzer.
