Swiss marine power company WinGD on Wednesday (25 June) said it will provide X‑DF‑M dual-fuel methanol and X-Engine methanol-ready engine designs for over 30 container vessels to be built for an unnamed major Taiwanese container ship operator.

The  owner’s most recent order is for methanol-ready X92 engines for twelve 16,000 TEU vessels. They join existing orders placed earlier in the year for twenty 8,700 TEU container vessels, when the company selected methanol-ready X82 engines for fourteen vessels, with the remainder to deploy X82DF-M methanol-fuelled engines.

WinGD Director of Sales Volkmar Galke, said: “Alongside engine capex and fuel efficiency, owners now need to consider which fuels they can access to in order to reduce IMO compliance costs. Our Taiwanese customer considered its fuelling strategy to reduce costs under the new GFI regime and we are glad that our engines will be part of their winning formula.”

In the run-up to the IMO’s Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) meeting in April, the  owner had been considering LNG dual-fuel engine designs for its latest newbuild series. After the approval of the IMO’s Net Zero Framework at that meeting the operator re-evaluated its decision, opting to proceed with a portfolio of methanol-ready engines—potentially using biodiesel until they are converted—alongside earlier methanol-fuelled engine orders.

WinGD CEO Dominik Schneiter, said: “The customer’s strategy of adopting zero or near-zero emission fuels illustrates the shift that effective regulation can bring—and why it is critical that the industry does not lose momentum as the final, crucial elements of the GFI Standard pricing mechanism are decided.

“A reward factor that closes the cost gap between conventional and clean fuels is essential if the industry is going to meet its decarbonisation targets.”

WinGD’s diesel-fuelled X-Engines and dual-fuel LNG X-DF engines support the use of biodiesel and biomethane blends respectively. And its X-DF-M methanol dual-fuel and X-DF-A ammonia dual-fuel engines—both of which are being delivered for the first time this year—allow for uptake of zero or near-zero emissions (ZNZ) fuels when operators are ready.

All WinGD engines can be converted to use ZNZ fuels thanks to a common, robust engine platform and WinGD’s retrofit-ready, modular design approach. 

Photo credit: WinGD
Published: 26 June, 2025

William Gidman, Partner and Mike Bunton, Master Mariner, of global law firm HFW, in a recently published article, discussed on the rise in claims relating to the management of dual-fuelled vessels and advised both owners and charterers to  monitor the condition of LNG and traditional bunker fuels on board dual-fuelled vessels carefully:

The drive for sustainability in shipping, particularly as a result of FuelEU, which took effect on 1 January 2025, is leading to significant growth in the use of dual-fuelled vessels.

The most common of these can consume both traditional fuels (like VLSFO) and LNG. We are now seeing an increase in claims relating to the management of dual-fuelled vessels, which suggests that developments are required both in practice and in drafting time charterparties to keep pace with the use of progressive fuel technologies.

Shelf-life of traditional fuels

In recent months, HFW has advised on a number of claims concerning dual-fuelled LNG carriers (or LNG-powered vessels), where traditional fuels have not been consumed within their shelf-life, meaning they are no longer fit for use and must be de-bunkered. This often arises during periods where the price for LNG has been lower than the price for traditional fuels, so that charterers opt to run the vessel on LNG as much as possible to save costs. This practice can present a significant risk for charterers, as the diminution in the value of the de-bunkered fuel is not ordinarily insurable. 

CIMAC, a non-profit association promoting the development of ship propulsion and power, suggests that whilst HSFO can have a two-year shelf life, this can be reduced to between three and six months for VLSFO. Three months could be a relatively short window in which to use VLSFO, particularly if the gas price is low so that it is used as the secondary fuel on board.

Whose job is it to monitor the condition of fuels on board a vessel and how do time charterparties deal with the management of two fuels? Your immediate reaction may well be that, of course, it is the charterers’ responsibility to decide when to use their own fuels, but the answer is not that straightforward. We explore this further below.

Relevant charterparty clauses

A time charterparty will invariably provide a minimum specification for fuel supplied by charterers (e.g. ISO 8217:2017). BIMCO also developed an LNG fuel quality clause in 2021, providing an LNG specification. 

There could be other express clauses in a time charterparty under which charterers warrant that the fuel will be fit to be consumed in the vessel’s engines (at the time it is consumed). In addition, the implied indemnity could bite if the vessel’s engines are damaged by complying with charterers’ orders to consume the charterers’ fuel.

Whilst helpful, these clauses do not set out responsibility for monitoring the condition of fuels to ensure they are consumed within their usable lifespan.

Fuel management

Owners are required by the International Safety Management (ISM) Code to implement and maintain on board a Safety Management System (SMS) which sets out owners’ risk assessments and operational procedures. This should include bunkering procedures and bunker quality assessment/testing prior to use, which would form part of a bunker management plan, and should include monitoring different grades in different tanks. The SMS is also required to identify critical equipment and systems, such as propulsion systems, and include specific measures to ensure their reliability, incorporating this into the Planned Maintenance System (PMS). 

On a dual-fuelled LNG vessel, where VLSFO is the secondary fuel and may have a short, three month lifespan, it would be prudent for Owners to update the SMS and PMS to extend the fuel sampling and testing requirements after bunkering to monitor both fuels on board. This should be based on the assessment of lifespan of the fuels, in order to ensure that the traditional fuel remains fit for purpose and that they do not become a failure point of critical systems when needing to change over fuels.

This is particularly the case given that:

• it may not be permitted to use LNG as the vessel’s fuel in port or other congested waterways.
• there is normally a minimum safety reserve for traditional fuels so that they can be used in an emergency.

It is therefore important that owners test and monitor both fuels regularly so that the vessel is ready to change fuels at any time when required (emergency or not). This is not to suggest that owners’ SMS monitoring and testing requirements mean that charterers bear no risk for the degradation of charterers’ fuels. However, in light of the reality of fuel degradation, it would be good practice for owners to do so and could protect against circumstances in which they may be exposed to a claim for breach of reasonably prudent SMS bunker monitoring requirements, which lead to a vessel being unable to use traditional fuels when required. It is possible in this scenario that the failure to have a reasonably prudent SMS bunker monitoring system could amount to a breach of due diligence seaworthiness before and at the start of the voyage (following the line of authority in the CMA CGM LIBRA).

Bailment

Under a time charterparty, the bunkers purchased by charterers on delivery and throughout the charter period remain their property, but the owners will hold the fuel in their possession as bailee. The bailment relationship between the parties will broadly be on the terms of the charterparty (bailment on terms) and may extend to a duty on owners to take reasonable care of the charterers’ property. 

Again, it is not suggested this bailment obligation would place responsibility for natural fuel degradation on owners; however, it may place a further similar obligation on them (to that found in the SMS) to reasonably monitor the fuels and to notify the charterers if there are signs of degradation. 

Sustainability benefits

In addition to monitoring the quality of traditional fuels on a dual-fuelled vessel, issues can arise in relation to the low carbon fuel on board. One of the key drivers for chartering a dual-fuelled vessel may be to benefit from low GHG / carbon fuels under sustainability regulations such as FuelEU. For example, an operator of a dual-fuelled LNG carrier may be able to monetise the use of LNG fuel in vessels trading to, from or within the EU by means of pooling.

If there is a breach of charter and/or fuel monitoring by owners which leads to the inability of charterers to use the low GHG / carbon fuels on board, this could give rise to commercial losses for charterers. 

Calculating the financial losses flowing from this could be complex, particularly where the vessel has been chartered for less than one reporting year under the applicable regulation. One solution would be for owners and charterers to agree in the charterparty a liquidated damages regime which defines the financial compensation due to charterers in such circumstances (thus avoiding potentially complex and time-consuming litigation).

Conclusions

Both owners and charterers should monitor the condition of both fuels on board dual-fuelled vessels carefully and owners should develop, document and implement an appropriate SMS bunker management plan specifically for dual-fuelled vessels. To avoid and simplify any future disputes, it would be prudent to include clauses in dual-fuelled vessel time charterparties covering:

• the management, monitoring and reporting to charterers of the condition of both fuels.
• actions to be taken if one fuel is unavailable.
• liquidated damages as compensation if the non-availability of one fuel gives rise to losses.

Dual-fuelled vessels will become the norm in the foreseeable future. In our view, it would be prudent to spend time on developing good practice and agreeing appropriate charterparty terms now, so as to avoid complicated and costly issues arising in the future.

Photo credit: Shaah Shahidh on Unsplash
Published: 23 June, 2025

NCL Nordland, the second in a pair of container ships designed to be powered bio-methanol for low-carbon shipping, has now entered service, following the successful launch of its sister vessel Vestland, according to Berg Propulsion on Monday (2 June). 

Owned by MPC Container Ships (MPCC), these dual fuel 1,300 TEU vessels can be operated on methanol and/or MGO, under a 15-year charter to North Sea Container Line (NCL) in services connecting Norway and Rotterdam.

“Nordland and Vestland established MPCC as an early mover in competitive green fuel strategies to deliver long-term shareholder value for shipping’s low carbon future,” said Constantin Baack, CEO of MPCC. 

“The project also shows how we meet ambitious goals by working with like-minded partners.”

The vessels’ space-optimised and high-performance propulsion systems cut energy use per TEU per nautical mile by 63% compared to earlier models. NCL has also partnered with Equinor to supply bio-methanol—starting with a 5% blend, with plans to gradually increase the ratio in line with the evolving fuel supply chain.

Each vessel features an integrated Berg energy management system and tailored total propulsion package. This setup consolidates the electrical components of the propulsion chain to optimise the performance of the two-stroke main engine, incorporating Berg’s MPP 1410 Controllable Pitch Propeller and MTT bow and stern thrusters.

Christian Rychly, Chief Operating Officer, MPC Container Ships, said: “Berg Propulsion and partners managed to develop, build and integrate complex systems and applied high-end technological philosophies into fully functional machinery on board both vessels despite challenges that can occur during newbuilding projects, and we would like to thank them for their cooperation and support.”

“We worked as a co-designer for the integrated main propulsion solution, configuring the compact ER (Engine Room) layout to enable optimized aft ship design and performance,” said Mattias Hansson, Senior Global Sales Manager at Berg. “We are delighted that the teamwork between all parties in this collaborative newbuilding program has resulted in truly exceptional ship fuel efficiency.”

Berg’s customised solution also includes optimised propeller designs, along with power and control electronics, to ensure maximum flexibility during operations.

“Nordland joins a service which is already proving itself on efficiency,” added Bente Hetland, Managing Director of NCL. “This is an extraordinary example of stakeholders collaborating to overcome decarbonisation challenges cost-effectively so that green freight is the customer’s preferred choice.”

“This is next level energy management which mixes and matches the energy sources to the best advantage of ship performance,” said Mattias Dombrowe, Business Manager, Electric System Integration at Berg. 

“The hybridised set up optimises energy use from gensets, the shaft alternator, and 250 kWh battery for load balancing during thruster or other peak loads, also accommodating the shore connector for zero emissions when the vessels are in port.”

Photo credit: Berg Propulsion
Published: 3 June, 2025