Maersk Secures 730,000 MT/Year of Green Methanol Supply by End-2025

Maersk has 12 new methanol-fuelled 16,000 TEU boxships being delivered from 2024. Image Credit: AP Moller-Maersk

Container shipping firm AP Moller-Maersk has found suppliers of at least 730,000 mt/year of the green methanol it will need for its new zero-carbon ships by the end of 2025.

The firm has entered into strategic partnerships with six methanol producers with the intent of buying at least 730,000 mt/year from them by the end of 2025, it said in a statement on its website on Thursday. 130,000 mt/year of the total will be available by the end of 2024.

The firms are CIMC ENRIC, European Energy, Green Technology Bank, Orsted, Proman and WasteFuel.

"To transition towards decarbonisation, we need a significant and timely acceleration in the production of green fuels," Henriette Hallberg Thygesen, CEO of fleet and strategic brands at Maersk, said in the statement.

"Green methanol is the only market-ready and scalable available solution today for shipping.

"Production must be increased through collaboration across the ecosystem and around the world.

"That is why these partnerships mark an important milestone to get the transition to green energy underway."

Maersk has 12 new methanol-fuelled 16,000 TEU boxships being delivered from 2024.

Maersk will need a total of 420,000-540,000 mt/year of green methanol to run its new zero-carbon ships, and the company has previously expressed doubt that it will be able to secure all of the supply needed in time for their maiden voyages. If methanol is not available in sufficient quantities, the ships will be able to run on VLSFO instead.

WasteFuel's methanol will initially be produced from municipal waste in South America, with other sources planned to be developed in due course, the company said in a separate statement on Thursday.

In an interview with Ship & Bunker earlier this year, WasteFuel CEO Trevor Neilson said the firm had about 30 biofuel production sites in development around the world, of which about 80% would be methanol-focused.

Maersk made an investment of unknown size into WasteFuel last year. Morten Christiansen, Maersk's head of decarbonisation, is now on the WasteFuel board, and Maersk is the company's largest investor.