At the beginning of 2015, the 240-metre-long Stena Germanica was equipped with a combined methanol propulsion system at the Remontowa shipyard in Poland. The first voyage between Kiel and Gothenburg took place at the end of March of the same year and established methanol as a fuel for large ferries. Technically, it is a so-called dual fuel solution that allows the ferry's four engines to be powered by both methanol and traditional fuels such as marine gasoil (MGO).

Since the conversion five years ago, Stena Line has regularly used methanol as the main or supplementary fuel on the Stena Germanica, thus saving 25% of traditional fuel.

"The conversion of the Stena Germanica to methanol propulsion was and is an important milestone on our journey towards more sustainable shipping. Despite the current challenging times, we are delighted to have five years of methanol in the tank and to be a pioneer for further projects of this kind," says Erik Lewenhaupt, Head of Sustainability, Brand and Communication Stena Line.

Methanol can be produced from natural gas, coal, biomass or_CO2. The use of methanol reduces sulphur emissions by 99%, nitrogen emissions by 60% and particulate emissions by 95% compared to traditional fuels. If the methanol is obtained from renewable raw materials,_{CO2 emissions} no longer play a major role either.

Despite the very positive experience and the great potential of methanol as a ship fuel, Stena Line is not currently planning to equip any more ferries with methanol propulsion.

"We are working in parallel to reduce the fuel consumption and air and water emissions of our ferries and to further develop the fuel of the future. At present, methanol is not a competitive alternative to traditional fuels for cost and logistics reasons. However, we see great future potential for methanol in combination with batteries or fuel cells," says Erik Lewenhaupt.