Maersk: Our Methanol Demand Could Reach 6 Million MT/Year by 2030

The firm is aiming for net zero emissions by 2040, and expects to have renewed almost all of its fleet to be capable of running on green fuels by then. File Image / Pixabay

Container shipping giant AP Moller-Maersk could need as much as 6 million mt/year of green methanol as bunker fuel for its vessels by 2030.

The firm currently has 13 container ships capable of running on green methanol on order, the first of which is due for delivery in the middle of next year. These ships will have a combined cargo capacity of about 194,100 TEU -- or 4.6% of the company's current total capacity -- and will need about 500,000 mt/year of methanol.

But that methanol demand figure could grow rapidly over the remainder of this decade, Morten Christiansen, head of decarbonisation strategy at Maersk, said at a press conference on Wednesday.

"When we look towards 2030, where we have also set a target of actually having 25% of our vessels running on green fuels, then a bit depending on how much our fleet will grow by then, it will be something like five to six million tonnes of something that doesn't exist today," Christiansen said.

Of that 25% green fuels by 2030 target for its fleet, the company expects the majority to be running on methanol and some to be using biodiesel. But some may also be using ammonia by then, Christiansen added.

"With what I know today and how technology seems to be going. I do expect that we will get some vessels on ammonia and we will go down that pathway as well towards the end of the decade," he said.

Maersk's total bunker consumption last year was 11.1 million mt. The firm is aiming for net zero emissions by 2040, and expects to have renewed almost all of its fleet to be capable of running on green fuels by then.