SHIPMANAGER Marlow Navigation has teamed up with Denmark-based advisory Green Marine to strengthen its preparation of crews ready to operate vessels on alternative fuels.

Cyprus-based Marlow said that as a result of the co-operation it “will now be able to offer face-to-face and simulator training on alternative fuels in the Philippines and very soon also in Europe”.

While perhaps best-known for its activities in the methanol-as-marine fuel chain, Green Marine will support Marlow by advising and training owners and crews for the design, operation and safe handling not only of methanol-fuelled engines, but “in the future also regarding liquefied natural gas, ethanol and ammonia”, the companies said in a joint statement.

“We have always seen training as a vital part of our service when offering crew and technical management,” said Marlow general manager Joern Clodius.

The new co-operation on alternative fuels “further enhances our ability to provide customised solutions to our customers”.

“The one-size-fits-all approach, which in some areas may have been an option in the past, has definitely run its course and crews today, need to be specifically trained for the vessels, engines and fuels of which they are in charge,” Clodius said.

According to Green Marine CEO Fredrik Stubner, the partnership “allows us to expand our global network of maritime professionals and apply more than a decade of direct experience in methanol and other low flashpoint fuels to a new generation of seafarers”.

Marlow’s network has 30 offices in 14 countries, with more than 16,000 crew on board vessels and 26,000 active seafarers in its employment pool.

The two companies have previously worked together for two years on training initiatives with knowledge exchange and support in the area of low-flashpoint fuels.