MAN Diesel & Turbo has 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 transport of bulk chemicals and 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. “Methanol is a sulfur-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,” stated Jone Hognestad, president, Waterfront Shipping.

“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 sulfur-free fuel offers great potential,” said Ole Grone, senior vice president, MAN Diesel & Turbo SE.

Methanol and LPG carriers have already operated at sea for many 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 makes sense with another important factor being the benefit to the environment. According to MAN Diesel & Turbo, it is already working toward a Tier-III-compatible ME-LGI version.

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