Laura Maersk has undertaken various ethanol bunker reials for Maersk. Image Credit: Maersk

• Maersk to mark what it says will be the first ethanol bunkering of a container vessel in the USA
• Operation to feature the 9,000 TEU boxship Tangier Maersk at Mobile, Alabama
• Two-day showcase event set for September 15 and 16

Maersk is planning to showcase what it says will be the first ethanol bunkering of a container vessel in the USA, at an event in Mobile, Alabama, in September.

The vessel lifting the fuel will be the 9,000 TEU capacity Tangier Maersk, according to a save-the-date invitation seen by Ship & Bunker.

The operation would extend Maersk's ethanol activity from its earlier European and feeder trials to a larger deep-sea ship in the US market.

The company completed its first sailing on 100% ethanol earlier this year, having moved the feeder Laura Maersk through 10% and 50% ethanol-methanol blends before running on neat ethanol, and has since expanded its use to a larger dual-fuel boxship.

Ethanol has drawn growing interest as a marine fuel, both as a biofuel in its own right and as a partner to methanol, with the two alcohols able to be blended in any ratio and stored in the same tanks.

Marine engine firm WinGD has described ethanol as a potential "game-changer" for Shipping's energy transition, citing its lower cost, around $600/mt in the US against far higher prices for green methanol, and a growing supply pool as road-fuel demand falls with the spread of electric vehicles.

Despite its promise, a regulatory question still hangs over the fuel with EU rules on crop-based biofuels currently rulling out ethanol as a qualifying biofuel within the bloc. 

The position is being activly challenged via a US submission to the IMO with EU having recently signalled it may be open to change.