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E-methanol maritime import chain to an MtJ site

Sea leg of an e-methanol supply to a Methanol-to-Jet plant: export and import tank farms plus a chartered tanker shuttle. Fleet size and calls, bunker fuel and its well-to-wake CO2, delivered transport cost in EUR/t and EUR/MWh, and the e_td term for the carbon intensity. Sized in kt/a of methanol delivered.

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Open Jack

Founder · OpenJack

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  • CurrencyEUR 2023
  • Battery limitinstalled
  • 64 documented assumptions
  • Updated2 Nov 2026

Mass and energy balance

What the asset draws and delivers for the case and load you choose.

Reference case

Shortest sea route from the export to the import port, in km (1 nmi = 1.852 km). Default 12,174 km is Saudi Arabia to Germany in Hampp et al. 2023 Table 2; the range runs from Denmark (812 km) to Australia (20,284 km) in the same table. It drives voyage time, ship-days and bunker fuel.

Flows

  • In: E-methanol at the export terminal—

Asset

E-methanol maritime import chain (export terminal, tanker shuttle, import terminal)

  • Out: E-methanol landed at the import terminal—

Annual quantities at the current usage.

E-methanol landed at the import terminal per year, in kt/a. 1,000 kt/a is about 125 t/h for an MtJ plant running 8,000 h/a (#486/#489 range: ~6 to 380 t/h). Below 900 kt/a the chain keeps at least monthly calls, so each call is a part cargo on a shared chemical tanker (see Model).

Fleet size
— ships
Calls per year (whole)
— trips/year
Parcel per call
— t
Tank volume per terminal
— m3

CAPEX

Specific cost at this size, what backs it, and how it behaves with scale.

Specific CAPEX at this size

—

Reference size 900 kt/a

TNO 2023 parcel sizing

Model value: two tank farms sized to one parcel plus 25 % (TNO 2023) at 169.79 EUR/m3 (Hampp et al. 2023). Customized: your own terminal CAPEX per t/a of throughput, used as is at every throughput and no longer sourced.

Specific terminal CAPEX (scaled) by methanol delivered

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  1. Ex-factory
  2. Installed· this figure
  3. Fully financed
CAPEX at the battery limit—
Working capital, contingencyproject level

Included

  • Equipment
  • Installation, civil works and engineering

Not included

  • Working capital
  • Contingency

Added at project level

  • Working capital layer, from the project settings
  • Contingency, from the project settings

Project figures

Values passed to project mode when this asset is added to a project.

Concept sketch, not to scale · drag to rotate

E-methanol at the export terminal in
—
E-methanol landed at the import terminal outMain product
—
CAPEX to the battery limit
—
Fixed O&M
—
Variable O&M, excluding feedstocks
—
Asset lifetime
30 years

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Delivered sea-transport cost

A standalone indicator for a quick read. Project mode recomputes it for the whole system.

—

  • Cost - vessel charter—
  • Cost - bunker fuel—
  • Cost - export and import terminals—
  • Cost - port and canal dues—

Linked to the balance above

Shortest sea route from the export to the import port, in km (1 nmi = 1.852 km). Default 12,174 km is Saudi Arabia to Germany in Hampp et al. 2023 Table 2; the range runs from Denmark (812 km) to Australia (20,284 km) in the same table. It drives voyage time, ship-days and bunker fuel.

Time-charter equivalent of the tanker, in USD per day: it pays the ship, crew and maintenance, not bunker or port costs. Default 32,181 USD/d is the 2023 average product-tanker earning (UNCTAD RMT 2024, Clarksons); 2022 averaged 38,053 USD/d and MR spot rates were 6,822 USD/d in 2021. Converted at the 2023 ECB average, 1.0813 USD/EUR.

Price of the marine gas oil burned at sea, in EUR per MWh (LHV). Default 65 EUR/MWh is the diesel price He et al. 2026 use for methanol shipping in 2025.

EUR/t

Not included by default: PTX-BOA leaves port and canal charges out, and no published methanol figure was found. Enter your own dues per t delivered to add them.

Real discount rate used to annualise the terminal CAPEX over 30 years. Default 5 % is the international shipping WACC of PTX-BOA; Hampp et al. 2023 also run 10 %.

Delivered sea-transport cost by one-way sea distance

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Benchmarks

This model's figures against published references and reference cases.

Model vessel cost on the Chalmers route, EUR/MWh

4 He et al. 2026 §3.2

Model fuel cost on the Chalmers route, EUR/MWh

3 He et al. 2026 §3.2

Delivered sea-transport cost (energy basis), EUR/MWh

8 He et al. 2026 §3.2

22 He et al. 2026 §3.2

Reference cases at this size and usage

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All results

Every model output at the current settings, grouped, with the sensitivity charts.

70 outputs · 5 groups · 18 also shown above, dimmed

Delivered cost

16
Delivered sea-transport cost
ComputingEUR/t
Delivered sea-transport cost (energy basis)
ComputingEUR/MWh
Cost - vessel charter
ComputingEUR/t
Cost - bunker fuel
ComputingEUR/t
Cost - export and import terminals
ComputingEUR/t
Cost - port and canal dues
ComputingEUR/t
Vessel cost (energy basis)
ComputingEUR/MWh
Fuel cost (energy basis)
ComputingEUR/MWh
Terminal share of the cost
Computing%
Charter cost with a dedicated whole-ship fleet
ComputingEUR/t
Total annual transport cost
ComputingEUR/year
Variable OPEX (charter, bunker, dues)
ComputingEUR/year
Vessel charter per year
ComputingEUR/year
Bunker fuel per year
ComputingEUR/year
Port and canal dues per year
ComputingEUR/year
Charter price in EUR
ComputingEUR/d

Fleet and voyage

18
Fleet size
Computingships
Fleet (fractional)
Computingships
Fleet load penalty
Computingratio
Fleet utilisation
Computing%
Calls per year
Computingtrips/year
Calls per year (whole)
Computingtrips/year
Parcel per call
Computingt
Parcel share of the ship
Computing%
Full-ship loads per year
Computingloads/year
Round-trip time
Computingd
Round-trip time (hours)
Computingh
Sailing time per round trip
Computingh
Sailing share of the round trip
Computing%
Ship-days per year
Computingd/year
Fleet sailing hours per year
Computingh/year
Round-trip distance
Computingkm
Methanol delivered
Computingt/year
Methanol energy delivered
ComputingMWh/year

Bunker and emissions

11
Transport emissions (e_td)
ComputinggCO2e/MJ
Tanker energy demand
ComputingMWh/km
Tanker specific consumption
ComputingWh/(t.km)
Bunker per t delivered
ComputingMWh/t
Bunker fuel energy per year
ComputingMWh/year
Heat and losses
ComputingMWh/year
Bunker energy over cargo energy
Computing%
Bunker fuel mass per year
Computingt/year
Bunker CO2 at the stack
Computingt/year
Bunker GHG, well-to-wake
ComputingtCO2e/year
MGO well-to-wake factor
ComputinggCO2e/MJ

Terminals

14
Terminal CAPEX (export + import)
ComputingEUR
Terminal CAPEX
ComputingMEUR
Reference specific terminal CAPEX
ComputingEUR/(t/a)
Specific terminal CAPEX (scaled)
ComputingEUR/(t/a)
Specific terminal CAPEX, model value
ComputingEUR/(t/a)
Tank volume per terminal
Computingm3
Tank volume, both terminals
Computingm3
Implied tank cost per m3
ComputingEUR/m3
Capital recovery factor
Computing1/year
Annualised terminal CAPEX
ComputingEUR/year
Terminal fixed O&M
ComputingEUR/year
Terminal cost per year
ComputingEUR/year
Terminal cost at 5 % WACC
ComputingEUR/t
Terminal cost at 10 % WACC
ComputingEUR/t

Market and cross-checks

11
Charter price vs UNCTAD 2023
Computingratio
Charter outside the UNCTAD 2021-2023 range
Computingbool
UNCTAD low charter in EUR
ComputingEUR/d
UNCTAD high charter in EUR
ComputingEUR/d
Route vs Saudi Arabia to Germany
Computingratio
Chalmers route length
Computingkm
Round trip on the Chalmers route
Computingd
Model vessel cost on the Chalmers route
ComputingEUR/MWh
Model fuel cost on the Chalmers route
ComputingEUR/MWh
Model / Chalmers vessel cost
Computingratio
Model / Chalmers fuel cost
Computingratio

Sensitivities

5 charts
Delivered cost by component vs sea distance

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Delivered cost and specific terminal CAPEX vs methanol delivered

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Fleet size vs methanol delivered

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Transport emissions e_td vs sea distance

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Delivered cost vs time-charter price

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Sources

64 documented assumptions · 8 sources

About

Calculator context

A screening model of the sea leg that brings e-methanol to a Methanol-to-Jet plant: an export tank farm, a shuttle of chartered tankers, and an import tank farm. It is built for a feasibility study that has to stand in front of a lender, and answers three questions: how many ships and calls the supply needs, what the sea leg adds to the cost of each tonne of methanol, and what the bunker fuel adds to its carbon intensity (the e_td term).

The cost follows the shuttle equation of the EWI Global PtX Cost Tool 2.0 (Eq. 22): the time charter of the ship-days the cargo uses (it pays ship capital, crew and maintenance), bunker fuel for the laden and the ballast legs, and the two tank farms annualised over their 30-year life. Ship, storage and methanol parameters come from Hampp, Düren and Brown (2023): a 75 kt methanol tanker at 27.8 km/h, 48 h per port call, 0.24 MWh/km, tanks at 169.79 EUR/m3 with 6.25 %/a fixed O&M. The charter price is the 2023 product-tanker average of UNCTAD (32,181 USD/d), the bunker price the 65 EUR/MWh MGO of He et al. (2026), and the fleet count follows their Eq. 11 with the 95 % ship availability of PTX-BOA. Each tank farm holds one parcel plus 25 %, as in TNO (2023). The e_td term uses the FuelEU Maritime default factors of marine gas oil, 90.77 gCO2e/MJ well-to-wake.

The size is the methanol delivered in kt/a, from 50 to 3,000 kt/a (about 6 to 380 t/h for #486/#489 at 8,000 h/a). The parcel is capped at a monthly call: below 900 kt/a each call is a part cargo on a shared chemical tanker that pays ship-days and fuel pro rata of the space it fills, and the tank farms shrink with the parcel. This is a declared design choice; without it, a full 75 kt parcel at 50 kt/a means less than one call a year and a terminal annuity above 100 EUR/t. Above 900 kt/a the tanks stay at one full parcel, so their cost per tonne falls with throughput. The one-way distance is the usage lever, from Denmark (812 km) to Australia (20,284 km) in Hampp's Table 2. A second reference case applies the tanker intensity of He et al. (2026), 4.0 Wh/t.km, for a more conservative bunker figure. A terminal quote goes in as a Customized CAPEX; port and canal dues are not included unless you enter them.

Studies mostly print the whole import chain. The sea-leg split computed here is deduced from ship, fuel and storage parameters, not read from a source; the only printed maritime-only methanol cost found is Chalmers' 4 EUR/MWh vessel and 3 EUR/MWh fuel for 2025 over 10,050 nmi. Run on that route, this model lands close on vessel cost (about 1.07 times) and at about half on fuel with Hampp's energy demand, because Hampp transposes an LOHC tanker and Chalmers also counts auxiliaries on a heavier ship. That gap is shown, not tuned away. Ships are chartered, so the only CAPEX passed to project mode is the two tank farms (battery limit 'installed'); charter, bunker and dues go to variable OPEX.

Model

141 variables — inputs, calculations and outputs, with their dependencies.

141 variables shown of 141
VariableValueUnitDepends on
1000kt/a—
12174km—
1——
0——
45EUR/(t/a)—
32181USD/d—
65EUR/MWh—
0EUR/t—
0.05ratio—
VariableFormulaUnitDepends on
if((<=)+(<)+(>)+(!=)*(!=)+(<)+(>)+(>=)*(<=)+(<=)+(<)+(<)+(<)+(>=)>,,)bool
ships
if(*<,/,(**(+*)^)/max((+*)^-,))1/year
if(*<,/,(**(+*)^)/max((+*)^-,))1/year
VariableFormulaUnitDepends on
*t/year
*MWh/year
min(,/)t
/*%
/max(,)trips/year
ceil()trips/year
/loads/year
*km
/h
+*h
/d
/max(,)*%
*d/year
/(**)ships
max(,ceil())ships
*h/year
/max(,)ratio
/*%
if(==,,*/)MWh/km
*/Wh/(t.km)
*/MWh/t
*MWh/year
*MWh/year
/max(,)*%
*//t/year
*t/year
+/gCO2e/MJ
**/tCO2e/year
/max(,)*gCO2e/MJ
/EUR/d
*EUR/year
*EUR/year
*EUR/year
*(+*)/(*)m3
*m3
**(+*)/(*)*/(*)EUR/(t/a)
clamp(*(max(,)/)^(-),,)EUR/(t/a)
if(>=,,)EUR/(t/a)
*EUR
*MEUR
/max(,)EUR/m3
if(<,/,(*(+)^)/max((+)^-,))1/year
*EUR/year
**EUR/year
+EUR/year
++EUR/year
+EUR/year
/max(,)EUR/t
/max(,)EUR/t
/max(,)EUR/t
/max(,)EUR/t
+++EUR/t
/EUR/MWh
/EUR/MWh
/EUR/MWh
/max(,)*%
*EUR/t
*(+*)/max(,)EUR/t
*(+*)/max(,)EUR/t
/ratio
/EUR/d
/EUR/d
if((<)+(>)>,,)bool
/ratio
*km
(*/+*)/d
*///EUR/MWh
***//EUR/MWh
/ratio
/ratio

Assumptions

64 assumptions used in the calculations

  • Guards divisions against zero.

    Market range Exact.

    0.000001
    Convention

  • Literal zero for guards.

    Market range Exact.

    0
    Convention

  • Literal one.

    Market range Exact.

    1
    Convention

  • Fraction to percent.

    Market range Exact.

    100
    Convention

  • Percent to fraction.

    Market range Exact.

    0.01
    Convention

  • Hours in a day.

    Market range Exact.

    24h/d
    Convention

  • Calendar days used for ship availability (He et al. 2026 Eq. 11 uses 365).

    Market range Exact.

    365d/year
    Convention

  • kt to t.

    Market range Exact.

    1000t/kt
    Convention

  • kg to t, used to express the density in t/m3.

    Market range Exact.

    0.001t/kg
    Convention

  • 1 MWh = 3,600 MJ.

    Market range Exact.

    3600MJ/MWh
    Convention

  • 1 MWh = 1e6 Wh.

    Market range Exact.

    1000000Wh/MWh
    Convention

  • 1 t = 1e6 g.

    Market range Exact.

    1000000g/t
    Convention

  • EUR to million EUR.

    Market range Exact.

    0.000001MEUR/EUR
    Convention

  • A dedicated shuttle sails laden out and returns in ballast, so the sea distance counts twice in time and fuel.

    Market range Not applicable (shuttle convention).

    2
    EWI 2024 Eq. 22

  • One loading call at the export port and one unloading call at the import port per round trip.

    Market range Not applicable (shuttle convention).

    2
    Hampp 2023 Table 9

  • The chain has an export and an import tank farm of the same size.

    Market range Not applicable.

    2
    TNO 2023 Appendix A

  • Selector value for the Hampp et al. 2023 tanker energy demand.

    Market range Not applicable.

    1
    Selector

  • Selector value for the He et al. 2026 O2 tanker intensity.

    Market range Not applicable.

    2
    Selector

  • The parcel is capped at one twelfth of the yearly volume: at least one call a month. Without the cap, a 75 kt parcel at 50 kt/a means less than one call a year and tanks sized to a full ship, a non-physical regime where the terminal annuity alone passes 100 EUR/t. Below 900 kt/a each call is therefore a part cargo on a shared chemical tanker, and the cargo pays ship-days and bunker pro rata of the space it fills. This is a design choice declared here, not a sourced value.

    Market range Monthly is a common minimum for a feedstock supply contract; no source fixes it.

    12calls/year
    OpenJack design rule

  • Throughput at which the monthly parcel reaches the full 75 kt ship, so the tank farms stop growing. It is the size of the cost anchor: two full-parcel tank farms.

    Market range Moves with ship size and call rule; fixed here.

    900kt/a
    Derived from the parcel rule

  • The tank farms are sized to the parcel, not to the yearly throughput. Above 900 kt/a the parcel is a full ship, so the terminal CAPEX no longer grows with throughput: exponent 0 on throughput, and the CAPEX per t/a falls as 1/throughput. Below 900 kt/a the tanks follow the monthly parcel and the CAPEX per t/a is flat. Not an economy of scale of the tanks themselves, which Hampp prices per m3.

    Market range 0 above 900 kt/a, 1 below (on throughput).

    0
    TNO 2023 parcel sizing

  • Lower guard of the specific terminal CAPEX. The model value reaches 13.4 EUR/(t/a) at 3,000 kt/a, so the guard never binds inside the slider range.

    Market range Not applicable.

    5EUR/(t/a)
    Guard

  • Upper guard of the specific terminal CAPEX. The model value is at most 44.7 EUR/(t/a), so the guard never binds inside the slider range.

    Market range Not applicable.

    100EUR/(t/a)
    Guard

  • Converts tonnes into energy for the EUR/MWh results and for e_td.

    5.53611MWh/t
    Hampp 2023 S11 Table 9

  • Liquid methanol density used to size the tank farms.

    792kg/m3
    Hampp 2023 S10 Table 8

  • Cargo of one tanker; also the full parcel.

    Market range Chemical tankers 10-50 kt; Chalmers uses a 156,000 dwt tanker.

    75000t
    Hampp 2023 S11 Table 9

  • Sets sailing time and ship-days. About 15 knots.

    Market range Product tankers sail 12-15 kn.

    27.8km/h
    Hampp 2023 S11 Table 9

  • Time in port at each end of the round trip; charter is paid for it, bunker in port is not counted.

    Market range No independent range cited.

    48h
    Hampp 2023 S11 Table 9

  • Default tanker energy reference (3.2 Wh/t.km). A value transposed from an LOHC tanker, hence medium evidence; the Chalmers case shows the gap.

    0.24MWh/km
    Hampp 2023 S11 Table 9

  • Second tanker energy reference, rescaled to the 75 kt cargo by its intensity per t (4.0 Wh/t.km): 0.30 MWh/km.

    0.62MWh/km
    He et al. 2026 §3.2

  • Used to turn the Chalmers per-ship demand into a per-t intensity.

    Market range Not applicable.

    156000t
    He et al. 2026 §3.2

  • Share of the year a ship can sail; sets the fleet count.

    Market range No independent range cited.

    95%
    PTX-BOA 2024 §11.3.2

  • Default time-charter price. A fleet-weighted product-tanker average, dominated by MR/LR sizes; pairing it with a 75 kt parcel is slightly optimistic, as the rate does not vary with ship size here.

    32181USD/d
    UNCTAD RMT 2024

  • Top of the published range; drives the out-of-range flag.

    38053USD/d
    UNCTAD RMT 2023

  • Bottom of the published range (a 2021 spot rate, not a time charter); drives the out-of-range flag.

    6822USD/d
    UNCTAD RMT 2022

  • Converts the 2023 charter rate into EUR 2023, the currency year of the result.

    Market range Annual average.

    1.0813USD/EUR
    Bundesbank / ECB

  • Converts the 2022 UNCTAD high rate at its own year.

    Market range Annual average.

    1.053USD/EUR
    Bundesbank / ECB

  • Converts the 2021 UNCTAD low rate at its own year.

    Market range Annual average.

    1.1827USD/EUR
    Bundesbank / ECB

  • Default bunker price, and the fixed price of the Chalmers cross-check.

    Market range No independent range cited.

    65EUR/MWh
    He et al. 2026 §3.2

  • Upstream emissions of the bunker fuel.

    Market range Regulatory default.

    14.4gCO2e/MJ
    FuelEU Annex II

  • Combustion CO2e per g of MGO, CH4 and N2O included.

    Market range Regulatory default.

    3.2609gCO2e/g
    FuelEU Annex II via Veson

  • Stack CO2 per g of MGO.

    Market range Regulatory default.

    3.206gCO2/g
    FuelEU Annex II

  • Turns fuel mass into energy.

    Market range Regulatory default.

    0.0427MJ/g
    FuelEU Annex II

  • Installed tank cost per m3 for both tank farms. Jetties, loading arms and pipework are not in this figure, hence not in the model.

    Market range No independent range cited.

    169.79EUR/m3
    Hampp 2023 S9 Table 7

  • Service life of the tank farms; annuity period and the lifetime exported to project mode.

    Market range No independent range cited.

    30years
    Hampp 2023 S9 Table 7

  • Fixed O&M of the tank farms, as a share of CAPEX.

    Market range No independent range cited.

    6.25%/year
    Hampp 2023 S9 Table 7

  • Each tank farm holds one parcel plus 25 %.

    Market range No independent range cited.

    25%
    TNO 2023 Appendix A

  • Default of the discount-rate input and the 5 % terminal-cost output.

    5%
    PTX-BOA 2024 §11.3.1

  • High-WACC terminal-cost output.

    10%
    Hampp 2023 S7

  • Default route and the reference of the route ratio.

    12174km
    Hampp 2023 Table 2

  • Lower end of the distance input; shorter routes are flagged invalid.

    812km
    Hampp 2023 Table 2

  • Upper end of the distance input; longer routes are flagged invalid.

    20284km
    Hampp 2023 Table 2

  • Converts the Chalmers route length.

    Market range Exact.

    1.852km/nmi
    BIPM

  • Route of the Chalmers cross-check (18,613 km).

    Market range Not applicable.

    10050nmi
    He et al. 2026 §2.4

  • The only printed maritime-only vessel cost for methanol found; compared with this model run on the same route.

    Market range Single point.

    4EUR/MWh
    He et al. 2026 §3.2

  • Printed maritime fuel cost for methanol; compared with this model on the same route.

    Market range Single point.

    3EUR/MWh
    He et al. 2026 §3.2

  • Low end of the Chalmers 2050 shipping cost across non-LH2 carriers (methanol, ammonia, LOHC...). A wider scope than this calculator (other carriers, 2050, port storage), shown as an outer reference only.

    8EUR/MWh
    He et al. 2026 §3.2

  • High end of the same range, outer reference only.

    22EUR/MWh
    He et al. 2026 §3.2

  • Charter-based shuttle model: the time charter pays ship capital, crew and maintenance for the ship-days used; bunker is paid on top per km sailed; the two terminals are annualised at the discount rate. Bunker burned in port and refuelling costs are not modelled.

    Market range Not applicable (method).

    —
    EWI 2024 Eq. 22

  • Fleet = ship-days / (365 x 95 %), rounded up. Costs use the fractional ship-days (pay-per-use charter); the rounded fleet and its load penalty show what a dedicated fleet would cost.

    Market range Not applicable (method).

    —
    He et al. 2026 Eq. 11

  • Most studies print the whole import chain (production + conversion + shipping + storage). The sea-leg cost of this calculator is computed from ship, fuel and storage parameters; it is not read from a source. Only Chalmers prints a maritime-only methanol cost (vessel 4 + fuel 3 EUR/MWh in 2025 over 18,613 km). Every EUR/t figure derived from Chalmers' EUR/MWh, every bound and the e_td magnitude are deduced here.

    Market range Not applicable (method).

    —
    OpenJack scope note

  • Run on the Chalmers route at the same fuel price, this model gives about half the Chalmers fuel cost with Hampp's energy demand, and about 0.6 of it with the Chalmers intensity. Vessel cost lands close (about 1.07). The gap is published, not tuned away: Chalmers also counts auxiliaries and a heavier tanker. Choose the Chalmers reference case for a conservative fuel figure.

    Market range Not applicable (method).

    —
    OpenJack cross-check

  • Not in the model: port dues and canal charges (input, 0 by default), jetties and loading arms, terminal electricity, bunker in port, methanol losses in transfer, inland legs (#304 covers static storage). The charter rate does not vary with ship size.

    Market range Not applicable (method).

    —
    OpenJack scope note

  • The 169.79 EUR/m3 is read as an installed tank cost without owner's costs. Exported as battery limit 'installed': project mode adds its working-capital layer and contingency only. Ships are chartered, so they carry no CAPEX.

    Market range Not applicable (method).

    —
    OpenJack reading of Hampp 2023