Maersk Sets Out Role of New Energy Transition Unit

Maersk has 19 methanol-fuelled ships on order for delivery over the next few years. Image Credit: Maersk

Container shipping and logistics firm AP Moller-Maersk has set out the role of its new energy transition unit which is taking on the responsibilities of its bunker supply arm, Maersk Oil Trading.

Maersk Oil Trading has been folded into the energy transition organisation within Maersk, along with the former decarbonisation department, a spokesman for the company told Ship & Bunker on Monday.

But the Maersk Oil Trading brand will still be used externally.

"With Maersk Oil Trading being merged into the Energy Transition organization, there have been internal changes in the way Maersk Oil Trading is being structured, however, the Maersk Oil Trading team, including Operations, is intact and the whole team is now a part of the new Energy Transition setup," the spokesman said.

"As for now, our external brand will still be Maersk Oil Trading."

Emma Mazhari will take responsibility for Maersk Oil Trading as part of her new role as head of energy markets at Maersk. The role of CEO of Maersk Oil Trading, previously held by Mikkel Kannegaard, has been discontinued, and Kannegaard is now part of the energy transition leadership team.

"Energy Transition's role is to enable Maersk's integrator strategy by securing resilient and responsible energy supply to Maersk's customer solutions at the lowest possible cost while driving the transition of the logistics energy system from fossil to renewable sources," the spokesman added.

"In order to support delivery of our energy transition strategy, we have merged all energy market activities and expertise under one umbrella.

"Bunker fuel for our vessels is our second biggest cost item, and we have over the past decade developed an advanced setup to source bunker.

"Originally, this setup focused on fossil fuel alone, and in recent years, we have leveraged this setup to accelerate the supply of biodiesel to support the growth in our ECO Delivery Ocean product.

"We are currently leveraging this setup to build the bunkering capabilities for our first green methanol vessel, which will be delivered later this year.

"This recent change does not impact Maersk Oil Trading's external customers, who we will continue to service with the same focus on quality and service delivery as always."

Maersk consumed a total of 10.58 million mt of bunker fuel last year. That amounts to about 4.7% of global bunker demand, based on IMO data for 2021.