Eastaway, a member of the X-Press Feeders Group, has ordered six 1,250 teu newbuild container vessels, fitted with dual-fuel engines capable of operating on conventional fuel and methanol, at CSSC Huangpu Wenchong Shipbuilding.
The first ship is set to be delivered by the second half of 2025, with all vessels joining the fleet by the third quarter of 2026, bringing the number of dual-fuel vessels in the pipeline for the X-Press Feeders Group to fourteen. Specifically, the six vessels will be of Ice Class, with delivery dates estimated between the third quarter of 2025 to third quarter of 2026. The vessels will join in the ranks of Eastaway’s managed fleet and will be operated by X-Press Feeders.
The new dual-fuel vessels will adopt the Sdari Sealion CV1250 Methanol dual fuel design and produce about 75% less emissions when operating on green methanol, X-Press Feeders said. The vessels will likely enter X-Press Feeders’ Europe trade routes.
X-Press Feeders is a large independent common carrier with a rich corporate history since 1972. The company operates a fleet of more than 100 vessels (up to New Panamax size), including 43 fully owned, covering all the major global transhipment hubs throughout Asia, Africa, Caribbean, Latin Americas, Europe, Mediterranean and Middle East.
The group is taking a number of proactive steps to reduce the environmental impact of its fleet and becoming net-zero emission by 2050, while employing other strategies such as carbon capture and exploration of future fuels.
“X-Press Feeders is excited to be expanding our fleet of dual-fuel vessels with these newbuilds. To achieve our goal of reaching net-zero emission by 2050, we must take concrete steps today. This order of 6 dual-fuel methanol vessels is proof of our commitment to not only talk about carbon neutrality goals but invest and take risks to achieve them. X-Press Feeders will continue to look at ways to further invest resources to reduce emissions through more efficient operations and promoting sustainable practices throughout our network,” said X-Press Feeders Chief Executive Officer, Shmuel Yoskovitz.
