Cover Story Breakbulk & Project Cargo
‘ Designed with flexibility ’
MPV operators lean into dual-fuel newbuild orders
By Autumn Cafiero Giusti
In working to meet International Maritime Organization requirements to curb greenhouse gas emissions , multipurpose and heavy-lift vessel operators are gravitating toward dualfuel vessels as the new standard for newbuilds , including those that will call at US ports .
Rendering courtesy G2 Ocean
Dual-fuel ships account for most of the newbuilds currently under construction , according to Thomas Damsgaard , head of the Americas office for shipowner association BIMCO .
G2 Ocean is among the MPV operators expanding its fleet with vessels that will be able to accommodate both conventional and alternative fuels , with its first round of new vessels set to come online as early as 2026 .
Phil Curran , G2 Ocean ’ s head of fleet operations , said the operator has 10 newbuilds on order that will be alternative-fuel ready . All 10 of the 83,000-deadweight-ton open-hatch vessels will be built with dual-fuel engines and fuel supply systems , and with space allocated for additional fuel tanks .
Phil Curran G2 Ocean
Meghan Toone DHL
Curran said it ’ s too early to predict which fuel will become the industry standard , but ammonia and methanol are the most likely alternatives .
“ Although the supply chain for biofuels is growing , availability is still limited .”
“ Our ships are designed with the flexibility to delay the decision on fuel type until the fuel supply market is more mature ,” he said . “ This allows our owners to commit to ordering newbuilds now without risking that the vessels will be negatively impacted from fuel availability .”
G2 Ocean last August announced orders for two new ammonia- and methanol-ready open-hatch vessels , which are set to be delivered by October 2028 and January 2029 , respectively .
Those vessels will be in addition to four new ammonia-ready vessels that will join the fleet in 2026 and
another four ammonia dual-fuel vessels coming in the first half of 2027 .
Along with building new dual-fuel vessels , G2 Ocean has been operating some of its vessels with biofuel produced from waste and residue streams .
Curran said biofuel is used on voyages between Europe and Canada , but infrastructure and availability are lagging in the US .
“ Although the supply chain for biofuels is growing , we do see that global availability is still limited ,” he said .
The newbuilds come as demand is mounting for sustainable fueling options . Meghan Toone , Americas regional operations manager for DHL ’ s industrial projects division , told the Journal of Commerce breakbulk and project cargo shippers that rely on DHL for freight forwarding have been voicing more interest in alternative fuel options .
“ More so you see it with containers , but that conversation is coming up with our industrial project customers asking about how they can help make a pivot in their strategy , and how we can help them with that ,” she said .
email : autumn @ autumngiusti . com www . joc . com March 2025 | Journal of Commerce 9