The container liner shipping company X-Press Feeders wants to introduce so-called “Green Corridors” in Europe and is allying itself with six European ports for this purpose.
X-Press Feeders, a feeder carrier ranked 14th in the world market of global liner shipping companies, has signed a letter of intent with six European ports for its plan.
These include Antwerp-Zeebrugge (Belgium), Tallinn (Estonia), Helsinki (Finland), Hamina-Kotka (Finland), Riga (Latvia) and Klaipeda (Lithuania). The agreement represents “a joint commitment to accelerate the establishment of green shipping corridors and the overall decarbonization of the shipping sector in Scandinavia and the Baltic Sea region”, according to a statement. As part of this declaration of intent, X-Press Feeders and the participating ports want to pool their resources and expertise to develop and implement sustainable practices for maritime transport.
“This development is of great importance as it will be the first feeder liner services in Europe to be powered by green methanol,” the partners write. Francis Goh, Chief Operating Officer of X-Press Feeders, said: “We have chosen the Nordic and Baltic states as the first markets to deploy our green methanol-powered vessels because we have found the ports and our customers in these markets to be very receptive.”
The Memorandum of Understanding provides:
- The parties intend to work together to further develop the infrastructure for the supply and bunkering of alternative fuels such as green methanol, promote the development of supply chains for fuels that cause no or almost no greenhouse gas emissions
- Provide training programs for port workers and seafarers on the use of alternative fuels
- Use digital platforms to improve the optimisation of port calls
- The parties intend to meet regularly to update and discuss progress on measures to further develop the green shipping corridors.
X-Press starts with two routes
The cooperation between the parties will begin with the establishment of two routes to be launched in the third quarter:
- Green Baltic X-PRESS (GBX): Rotterdam > Antwerp Bruges > Klaipeda > Riga > Rotterdam
- Green Finland X-PRESS (GFX): Rotterdam > Antwerp Bruges > Helsinki > Tallinn > HaminaKotka > Rotterdam
X-Press Feeders’ green methanol is sourced from the fuel supplier OCI Global.
