First Ever Methanol-fuelled Towboat to join fleet in 2023

The world’s first methanol-fuelled towboat named the M/V Hydrogen One is all set to enter the water bodies along with becoming accessible for charter 2023 onwards, revealed by Maritime Partners. Commercially available, proven, and efficient technologies have been used for developing this towboat.

Hydrogen One is going to be IMO 2030 compliant along with the conditions of Subchapter M of the US Coast Guard.

The electrical propulsion plant for the towboat will be provided by ABB, a Swiss technology-based company. Whereas, the design of the ships is in the hands of Elliot Bay Design Group (EBDG) which is a Naval architecture firm.

The methanol-to-hydrogen fuel cell will be delivered by e1 Marine, a renewable energy company, it is considered that its consumption is going to be less than diesel generators by 35%.

The vessel performance will be at a standard operational speed which is 550 miles before refuelling, says EBDG. Furthermore, they added that the generation of on-demand hydrogen from methanol is much safer than the transfer and storage of hydrogen. Also, minimal training will be required for utilisation of this technology. The designs and technologies which were used in the development of the towboat are capable of suiting any vessel with the similar requirements.

Image Source

---

Also read: ABB Marine and Ports to build hydrogen-powered inland towboat