Methanol is starting to emerge as the leader in the shipping sector’s bid to find a greener fuel for ocean vessels. Growing numbers of carriers and manufacturers are betting that the widely used industrial ingredient could help the business move on from dirty bunker fuel. The WSJ’s Costas Paris reports the outcome will depend on billions of dollars of investments in ships, port infrastructure and fuel-production capacity in the coming years. About 100 ships that can burn methanol have been ordered by some of the industry’s biggest names. They are far outpaced by ships capable of running on liquefied natural gas, but the sector views LNG as a transitional solution on the way to cleaner-burning fuel. Availability of methanol remains a key question, and so is cost. Retrofitting barges to pump methanol is expensive and prices for green methanol can run up to twice as much as bunker oil.

• Chevron is looking to seal an energy exploration deal with Algeria. (WSJ)
• A U.K. government analysis says taxing ship emissions could bring the country about $2.1 billion a year. (Offshore Energy)

A derailment along the border of Ohio and Pennsylvania is triggering fear across communities and turmoil along major rail corridors. Authorities were working to drain the chemical vinyl chloride from cars of a Norfolk Southern train that derailed near the Ohio village of East Palestine, triggering a fire. The WSJ’s Kris Maher reports residents were evacuated from a large area as workers sought to prevent a potentially catastrophic explosion. Norfolk Southern says shipments are being delayed across an area from Chicago to New York and Kansas City as workers try to clear the scene. The 50-car derailment is the latest accident to draw attention to the hazardous industrial loads hauled on the tracks. Environmental groups said this and other recent accidents in the region tied to petrochemicals, including a natural gas compressor station fire in December and six other train derailments since 2021, are putting residents at risk.

• A South Korean car carrier caught fire on its way to Vietnam. (Container News)

Companies and the U.S. government are shelling out billions of dollars to establish a supply chain for batteries in North America. The manufacturing effort is critical to the auto industry’s long-range plans to put more electric vehicles on the road, and the WSJ’s Andrew Mollica, Adrienne Tong and Stephanie Aaronson report that it encompasses a complicated supply chain that stretches from mining to processing to final production. Right now, assembling the battery cells embedded in vehicles typically involves many companies and can be dispersed across continents. Plans call for more than a dozen battery factories to be built across the U.S. in the next five years, with most located in the Midwest and South near existing assembly plants. The supply chain would remain global, however. Although the projects represent a significant step forward in the U.S. effort to advance domestic battery production, these plants would rely on materials sourced abroad.

• Australian startup Recharge won a bid to take over collapsed U.K. battery company Britishvolt. (The Guardian)

Powerful earthquakes across Turkey and Syria killed thousands of people and devastated a swath of infrastructure. (WSJ)

Bed Bath & Be­yond se­cured in­vestor back­ing for a more than $1 bil­lion cap­i­tal raise to stave off bank­ruptcy. (WSJ)

Dell Technologies is cutting about 5% of its workforce, or 6,600 employees. (WSJ)

U.S. regulators are seeking to fine United Airlines $1.1 million for allegedly bypassing flight safety checks. (WSJ)

Quarterly profit at meat supplier Tyson Foods plummeted on rising costs and falling prices. (WSJ)

The U.S. is preparing to impose a 200% tariff on Russian-made aluminum as soon as this week. (Bloomberg)

Intensifying work to produce more raw materials for electric-vehicle batteries raises the potential for supply gluts. (Nikkei Asia)

Residents of California’s Inland Empire are pushing back against the region’s dependence on pollution-heavy, low-wage logistics business. (Los Angeles Times)

Alibaba’s logistics arm and DHL will jointly build a network of parcel lockers across Poland. (South China Morning Post)

U.S. regulators ordered Mediterranean Shipping to justify congestion surcharges the carrier imposed last year. (Journal of Commerce)

CVC Capital Partners acquired Scan Global Logistics in a deal valuing the Danish freight forwarder at about $1.5 billion. (The Loadstar)

Flatbed trucker Daseke expects flat to low single-digit growth this year after revenues increased 3.5% in the past quarter. (Dow Jones Newswires)

Engine maker Cummins expects commercial truck demand to remain strong through at least the first half of the year. (Dow Jones Newswires)

Growth in brokerage and dedicated business offset falling truckload and intermodal revenue at Marten Transport. (Transport Dive)

Paul Page is editor of WSJ Logistics Report. Reach him at paul.page@wsj.com.

Follow the WSJ Logistics Report team: @PaulPage, @bylizyoung and @pdberger. Follow the WSJ Logistics Report on Twitter at @WSJLogistics.