You are using an outdated browser For a better experience using this site, please upgrade to a modern web browser. Subscribe Get Daily Email Subscribe --> Contact Us Sign in Home News & Features Compliance Costs Bunker Prices Bunker Intelligence Americas News Latest Features World Americas EMEA Asia/Pacific Home News & Features Americas Existing Methanol Fleet Could Consume 6 Million MT/Year of Ethanol, US Report Existing Methanol Fleet Could Consume 6 Million MT/Year of Ethanol, US Report by Ship & Bunker News Team Thursday October 1, 2026 Tweet Follow @shipandbunker Ethanol is increasingly being viewed as a viable alternative marine fuel alongside methanol. Image Credit: AI Generated Image / Ship & Bunker The existing methanol dual-fuel fleet could consume nearly 6 million mt/year of ethanol if the vessels were operated fully on the fuel, according to a new US report released last month.  The estimate comes from the National Laboratory of the Rockies (NLR) , a national laboratory of the US Department of Energy. NLR said existing dual-fuel ships currently in operation could consume nearly 6 million mt, or about 2 billion gallons , of ethanol a year under a high-substitution scenario. The estimate assumes the vessels are large container ships consuming around 100 mt/day of fuel oil and operating for 330 days a year. The figure represents a potential market rather than a forecast that the existing fleet will switch entirely to ethanol. Ethanol could benefit from the existing methanol fleet because the two fuels have similar properties and methanol-capable engines can operate on ethanol with little or no modification, NLR said.. Ethanol is increasingly being viewed as a viable alternative marine fuel alongside methanol. Recently, A.P Moller-Maersk bunkered bioethanol for the first time in the US . The company has been trying out ethanol on its methanol dual-fuel ships. However, ethanol lacks a dedicated marine fuel specification. The corresponding