The Stena Germanica was a little ahead of its time.

When the 1,300-berth, 2001-built ferry was retrofitted to use methanol as a fuel in 2015, Stena Line was looking to comply with emission control area rules, not trying to find ways to slash carbon at the behest of the International Maritime Organization.

The company still settled on IMO 2030-compliant methanol, after running one of its four engines on the fuel.