AP Moller-Maersk drives the green change with 6 extra-large containers

The nominal capacity of the ships is approx. 17,000 containers (twenty foot equivalent – TEU). They will replace the existing capacity in the Maersk fleet, the company said in a statement.

“Our customers are looking to us to decarbonize their supply chains, and these six ships capable of operating on green methanol will further accelerate our efforts to offer our customers climate neutral transportation. Global warming should be reduced by 1.5°C temperatures. Global action is needed in this decade to meet the Paris Agreement goal of limiting growth,” said Henriette Hallberg Thigesen, CEO of Fleet & Strategic Brands in Maersk.

Maersk has set a net-zero emissions target for 2040 across the business and has also set concrete near-term targets for 2030 to ensure significant progress.

The company said this includes a 50% reduction in emissions per transport container in Maersk Ocean’s fleet compared to 2020 and the principle of ordering only newly built vessels that can be operated on green fuel.

With the order, Maersk has ordered a total of 19 ships with dual-fuel engines capable of operating on green methanol.

“Green methanol is the best scalable green fuel solution for this decade, and we are excited to see many other shipowners choosing this route. This will help reduce the premium on green methanol and accelerate the development of climate neutral shipping.” Adds further momentum to the rapid scaling up of essential availability,” said Paley Lorsson, Maersk’s Chief Fleet and Technical Officer.

Benchmarked against conventional fueling capacities, the additional capital expenditure for methanol dual-fuel capacity is in the range of 8-12%, an improvement against the eight ships ordered with the same technology last year.

The six 17,000 TEU ships are to be delivered in 2025 and will sail under the Danish flag. They all come as part of Maersk’s ongoing fleet renewal program and will replace their ability to reach end-of-life in equal amounts and leave the Maersk managed fleet. When all 19 vessels on order are deployed and older vessels are replaced, they will generate annual CO2 emissions savings of about 2.3 million tonnes, the shipping company said.

In conjunction with Maersk managed and time-chartered vessels, Maersk reiterates its strategy of maintaining fleet capacity at a maximum of 4.3 million TEU.

The nominal capacity of six ships is approx. 17,000 containers. It will come with dual-fuel engines that will be capable of running on green methanol. They would save about 800,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions annually, it said.