S6 Ep24: Paul Hexter, President, Waterfront Shipping

About this episode

Paul Hexter discusses the challenges and advancements in methanol dual-fuel technology at Waterfront Shipping.

In this conversation, Paul Hexter lifts the veil on some of the practical challenges that Waterfront Shipping experienced since the first seven methanol dual-fuel vessels joined its fleet in 2016. He emphasises the central role of onboard teams and shipowners in solving technical teething issues around pilot fuel and lubricating oil, and in helping improve the technology from the first to the second and third generations of dual-fuel ships. Today, 19 of the company’s 30 deep-sea tankers are able to use methanol as fuel. Paul reports that the company has run its vessels on conventional methanol and some bio-methanol for over 245,000 hours to date, and that the fleet is currently operated on methanol ‘quite often’ in the current fuel price environment. He also outlines his vision for the transition to green methanol, revealing that Waterfront Shipping is already using some bio-methanol as fuel to ensure compliance with FuelEU Maritime regulations. While Waterfront Shipping does not currently have more vessels on order, the company aims to stick to methanol dual-fuel technology for future newbuild orders. Asked about trends in the alternative-fuelled orderbook, which show that LNG…

People in this episode

Guest: Paul Hexter

Topics covered

• methanol fuel
• dual-fuel technology
• shipping industry
• alternative fuels
• sustainability
• technical challenges

Keywords

• Waterfront Shipping
• methanol
• bio-methanol
• dual-fuel vessels
• sustainability
• shipping
• FuelEU Maritime

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Waterfront Shipping, FuelEU Maritime

Products: methanol, bio-methanol, LNG

More episodes of The ship.energy podcast

• S7 Ep7: Evelyne Williams, Research Associate, Center on Global Energy Policy, Columbia University, New York · April 7, 2026 · 26 min
• S7 Ep6: Arvind Natrajan, Senior Manager and IMO representative, International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) · March 23, 2026 · 22 min
• S7 Ep5: Lara Naqushbandi, CEO of ETFuels · March 9, 2026 · 27 min
• S7 Ep4: Daniel Gent, Marine Fuels Transition Lead, Soya Group · February 23, 2026 · 23 min
• S7 Ep3: FuelEU Maritime turns 1 - Robert Gaina, Ardmore and Filip Feurst, Stena Bulk · February 9, 2026 · 28 min
• S7 Ep2: Jason Stefanatos, Global Decarbonization Director, DNV · January 26, 2026 · 26 min