Jan De Nul and ABC Engines sign agreement for methanol marine engines for cable-laying vessel Fleeming Jenkin

Jan De Nul Group and ABC Engines are accelerating towards a more sustainable shipping industry with the development of these engines. Both companies take on a pioneering role to significantly reduce harmful emissions in the shipping industry and to contribute to a substantial positive impact on the climate and the health of man, fauna and flora.

An important step Jan De Nul Group is taking in making its fleet more sustainable, is switching to renewable fuels, such as methanol. Notwithstanding significantly reduced emissions of harmful greenhouse gasses, methanol also offers the advantage of being already available in more than one hundred ports around the world. In order to further shape the internal sustainability strategy and to fully align with the renewable world economy, Jan De Nul Group enters into this partnership with ABC Engines, which leads the way in the field of marine engines running on alternative fuels, such as the promising methanol.

Jan Van de Velde, Director Newbuilding at Jan De Nul Group: “The choice for ABC is based on a positive collaboration and shared vision of a sustainable future. Our cooperation results in high-quality engines that run on renewable fuel and are adapted to our vessels and needs of our customers. We prepare our fleet for the future, achieve a milestone within our sustainability goals and above all offer a positive contribution to the climate and health of man and animal."

Tim Berckmoes, CEO at ABC Engines: “Jan De Nul and ABC are two family-owned companies that always focus on the long term and use innovative technologies to realise the energy transition both locally and internationally. Thanks to the long-standing trust of our customers, we can continue to innovate, produce and invest in Flanders. This enables us to expand our export activities and further develop our manufacturing industry."

Fleeming Jenkin is the first ULEv vessel with methanol engines.

ABC will supply four 7,200 kW engines and one 1,800 kW engine for Jan De Nul Group's newest cable-laying vessel, Fleeming Jenkin. These medium-speed engines can run on both (bio)diesel and methanol. By switching to sustainable fuels in combination with the unique ULEv technology, this new, next-generation cable-laying vessel will bring about a significant reduction of harmful emissions such as CO2, SOx, HC, particulate matter and NOx. By doing so, it meets the strictest standards in terms of NOx emissions onshore (Euro 6) and in terms of particulate matter emissions offshore (Stage V).