Van Oord’s Boreas powered with methanol in first ship-to-ship bunkering in Amsterdam port

The Port of Amsterdam has hosted its first ship-to-ship methanol bunkering operation, supplying Boreas, the new offshore installation vessel from the Dutch offshore construction company Van Oord, with green methanol.

The operation took place at the TMA Logistics terminal in the Amerikahaven where Boreas received 500 tonnes of green methanol delivered by the bunker vessel Chicago, operated by Dutch-Swiss company Unibarge.

To remind, Unibarge secured a license to deliver methanol bunkering supplies to the Ports of Rotterdam and Amsterdam in the Netherlands and the Port of Antwerp-Bruges in Belgium in February 2025.

The ISCC-certified green methanol, which was produced using sustainable feedstocks (such as waste and residual streams), was supplied by OCI HyFuels.

Said to be the largest of its kind, the Boreas entered the Port of Amsterdam for the first time via the IJmuiden sea lock in March. The Boreas is also deemed the first ship of its kind that can operate on methanol, significantly reducing its ecological footprint.

Featuring emission control technologies, the vessel minimizes NOx emissions, while a 6,000 kWh battery pack further reduces fuel consumption and emissions.

Henri van der Weide, Clean Shipping Advisor at Port of Amsterdam, said: “We are pleased that Van Oord has chosen methanol. This makes them an important pioneer in the use of sustainable fuels in shipping.”

Enabling the bunkering of alternative fuels such as LNG, hydrogen, ammonia, and now methanol, is part of the Port of Amsterdam’s agenda to become a multi-fuel port through its Clean Shipping Vision.

“We do this in collaboration with the Clean Marine Fuels Working Group, a working group within the International Association of Ports and Harbors (IAPH), which focuses on the preconditions ports need to support the energy transition in shipping. Together with this group, we have developed a safety checklist for bunkering operations,” Henri explained.

Henri also noted that LNG bunkering has become “business as usual” with several active licensed LNG suppliers and an LNG bunker map created based on external safety research, which shows where LNG bunkering can be safely conducted.