The container ship Eco Ponente, sailing under the French flag, made a brief stop at the Gdynia Container Terminal (GCT) in the Port of Gdynia. It is the latest methanol-powered vessel to call at the port.

The 148-meter feeder Eco Ponente arrived at GCT as part of the PLS service operated by Ocean Network Express. This was not its first visit to the Gdynia container terminal.

The ship was delivered in 2024 as part of the first batch of 14 vessels ordered by X-Press Feeders from the Jiangsu Yangzijiang Shipbuilding yard in China. Alongside it, the shipping company also received sister ships Eco Maestro, Eco Levant, and Eco Zephyr. From the outset, it was known that these ships would operate on European routes managed by X-Press Feeders, creating the continent's first network of services using vessels capable of running on green methanol.

Eco Ponente is 148 meters long, over 27 meters wide, with a draft of 8.1 meters. It has a deadweight of 13,675 tons and a gross tonnage of 16,242. The ship can carry up to 1,260 TEU.

Its engine room houses a dual-fuel MAN 5S50ME main engine, which can run on both conventional marine fuel and methanol. This enables the vessel to reach speeds of up to 14 knots. Methanol is stored in two dedicated fuel tanks. According to calculations, using methanol propulsion can reduce fuel consumption per ton-mile by up to 50% compared to traditional bunker fuel, significantly lowering emissions as well.

X-Press Feeders sources its methanol fuel from OCI Global. According to the company, the deployment of the first methanol-powered vessels on routes in Northern Europe in 2024 was influenced by the strong interest and openness of key clients in this region. Rotterdam – Europe’s largest port and fully equipped for methanol bunkering – serves as the hub of this methanol-powered feeder network.

It's worth noting that the number of methanol-powered container ships of various sizes is steadily increasing on global routes. The first such vessel – the feeder Laura Maersk – made its debut in Poland at GCT in the Port of Gdynia back in October 2023. Since then, shipping lines have launched dozens more methanol-powered vessels, including larger ones. These ships are now appearing at container terminals across Poland. Just last week, the 351-meter Adrian Maersk was handled at the Baltic Hub in Gdańsk.