Maersk Orders Four More Methanol-Fuelled Boxships

Maersk's commitment to methanol bunkering is rising. File Image / Pixabay

Container shipping giant AP Moller-Maersk has added four more boxships to its recent order of methanol-fuelled tonnage.

The firm has exercised an option to add four more vessels to its order of eight 16,000 TEU methanol-fuelled container ships announced in August of last year, Jacob Sterling, head of decarbonisation innovation and business development at Maersk, said in a LinkedIn post on Monday.

"Once fully phased in and running on green methanol, the twelve large methanol fuelled container vessels will generate savings of 1.5 million mt of CO2 emissions per year," Sterling said.

"Not only will these ships represent a significant step in our decarbonisation journey, they will also enable us to offer decarbonised shipping to our customers at a completely different scale than today."

The four additional ships will be delivered in 2025, following the delivery of their eight predecessors from the first quarter of 2024, according to maritime news website Splash 247.

The 12 16,000 TEU vessels will arrive after Maersk's first methanol-fuelled ship, a 2,100 TEU feeder vessel due for delivery next year.

Once delivered, these 13 methanol-fuelled ships would represent 4.5% of Maersk's current cargo capacity.

Securing supply of enough green methanol will be the next challenge for Maersk. The firm will need to find 280,000-360,000 mt/year of green methanol for the eight new ships ordered last year, having already secured a contract to supply the smaller feeder vessel. Assuming the four additional ships have the same fuel needs, that requirement will rise to 420,000-540,000 mt/year.

Maersk has said it is not certain it will be able to find the methanol needed for all of these ships' maiden voyages, but that it is more optimistic about securing the supply by 2025 or 2026.