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On 1 July, 2013, MAN Diesel & Turbo (MAN) announced the development of a new ME-LGI dual fuel engine. The engine expands the company's dual-fuel portfolio, enabling the use of more sustainable fuels such as methanol and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG).

MAN has signed a letter of intent with Vancouver-based Waterfront Shipping for the use of four MAN ME-LGI engines on its ships. The engines will run on a blend of 95% methanol and 5% diesel fuel.

Waterfront Shipping, a wholly owned subsidiary of Methanex Corporation, is a global marine transportation company specializing in the transportation of bulk chemicals and clean petroleum products.

"With the growing demand for cleaner marine fuel to meet environmental regulations coming into effect in Northern Europe and other regions, methanol is a promising alternative fuel for ships," MAN said.

Jone Hognestad, President, Waterfront Shipping, commented: "Methanol is a sulphur-free fuel and provides many environmental and clean burning benefits. In using methanol-based marine fuel, we can reduce emissions and fuel costs at the same time."

"With increasing fuel prices and upcoming shipping regulations, we identified the need to develop an engine that can enable ships to run on alternative fuels with environmental benefits. The ability of our ME-LGI engine to run on a sulphur-free fuel offers great potential," remarked Ole Grøne, Senior Vice-President, MAN Diesel & Turbo SE.

MAN developed the ME-LGI engine in response to interest from the shipping industry to provide alternatives to heavy fuel oil. Methanol and LPG carriers have already operated at sea for several years and many more LPG tankers are currently being built as the global LPG infrastructure grows.

With a viable, convenient and economic fuel already on board, exploiting a fraction of the cargo to power a vessel would seem to make sense, with another important factor being the benefit to the environment. MAN Diesel & Turbo says that it is already working towards a Tier-III-compatible ME-LGI version.

The four G50ME-LGI units are targeted for the end of 2013, with engine delivery due to follow in the summer of 2015.

Image: Mariline fuel tanker ship operated by Waterfront Shipping.