With the delivery of the “Ecomar Gironde”, Hafnia and its French partner Socatra have completed their joint Ecomar new-build program on schedule.
The ship is the fourth and final unit in a series of medium-range tankers that are prepared for the future use of methanol and are therefore aimed at future requirements in the product and chemical tanker market. From now on, the newbuilding unit will enter into a long-term charter agreement with the French energy company TotalEnergies and will be deployed accordingly.
The newbuilding was built at Guangzhou Shipyard International (GSI) in China. The “Ecomar Gironde” has a deadweight tonnage of 49,800 dwt and is classified according to the IMO II standard. Designed as a chemical tanker, the ship can be operated with conventional fuel as well as methanol in the future, as soon as the corresponding infrastructure and availability are in place. The dual-fuel-capable drive concept is a central component of the entire series.
In addition to the unit now delivered, the Ecomar fleet also includes the vessels “Ecomar Gascogne”, “Ecomar Garonne” and “Ecomar Guyenne”. The delivery of the fourth ship marks the completion of the new construction project. All units follow an identical basic technical concept, which is designed for efficiency in today’s operations and technological openness for alternative fuels.
In addition to the methanol option, the tankers are equipped with modern navigation and monitoring systems, optimized cargo handling and energy-efficient machinery. The aim is to operate competitively under current market conditions while at the same time meeting the regulatory and environmental requirements of the coming years.
The naming ceremony for the “Ecomar Gironde” took place at the GSI shipyard in Guangzhou. Representatives from Hafnia, Socatra, the GSI shipyard, TotalEnergies, Bureau Veritas, BRS and other project partners were present. The naming ceremony was performed by Raphaële Guenot, Head of ESG, Executive Projects and Compliance at Hafnia and board member of ECOMAR.
According to Hafnia, the Ecomar program is based on a long-standing collaboration with GSI and the technical manager BRS. The partnership has existed for more than twelve years; since 2013, a total of 24 ships have been delivered within this framework. The current project is seen as an intermediate technological step on the way to lower-emission propulsion solutions.
The four Ecomar tankers have been chartered to TotalEnergies for several years and will be used worldwide in the chemical and product tanker segment. Following completion of the new-build program, Hafnia and the partners involved now want to evaluate the operating experience in particular with a view to efficiency, emission reduction and the practical feasibility of the methanol concept in commercial use.
