Port of Long Beach puts $1 million behind methanol bunkering

The Port of Long Beach has launched a $1 million prize for the first oceangoing vessel to commercially bunker methanol at its harbour.

Approved by the Long Beach Harbor Commission, the Clean Fuel Bunkering Challenge will be open to the global market.

Port of Long Beach CEO, Dr Noel Hacegaba, said: “We know the shipping industry is considering moving toward adopting methanol marine fuel for some great reasons; they want to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve air quality. Today, we’re giving them 1 million more reasons to embrace clean fuels.”

Methanol burns cleaner than conventional marine fuel, cutting nitrogen oxide emissions by up to 50 per cent, sulphur oxides by 95 per cent, and particulate matter by 90 per cent.

Despite growing investment in dual-fuel methanol vessels by major carriers, several of which already call at Long Beach, the port currently offers no methanol bunkering, forcing methanol-ready ships to depart on conventional bunker fuel.

At current pricing, methanol bunkering costs approximately $1.5 million per call against roughly $1 million for conventional fuel.

The award is structured to offset that gap, with the remaining $500,000 allocated to operational and safety procedure development, engagement with fuel providers and distributors, and coordination with local permitting agencies.

Long Beach Harbor Commission President Frank Colonna said: “This is the most direct and practical lever we can pull to demonstrate the feasibility of bunkering methanol fuel in San Pedro Bay.”

The challenge draws on methanol bunkering already available at the ports of Shanghai and Singapore, both participants in Green Shipping Corridors with the San Pedro Bay ports.

Within the year, the port also intends to update its Green Ship Incentive Programme, revising scoring and incentive metrics in collaboration with international port partners to encourage more routine cleaner vessel calls.

Recently, the Port of Long Beach opened a new Cyber Defense Operations Centre as part of a broader push to protect the digital infrastructure underpinning $300 billion worth of annual trade.