Maersk expecting more methanol-powered vessels
Danish shipping giant AP Moller-Maersk said August 24 that it planned to roll out eight new container vessels in 2024 that will be powered by methanol.
Maersk said that Hyundai Heavy Industries was tapped with supplying the vessels, which will have a nominal carrying capacity of 16,000 containers each. The agreement with Hyundai includes an option for four additional vessels by 2024.
|
Advertisement: The National Gas Company of Trinidad and Tobago Limited (NGC) NGC’s HSSE strategy is reflective and supportive of the organisational vision to become a leader in the global energy business. |
“The series will replace older vessels, generating annual CO2 emissions savings of around 1mn metric tons,” Maersk said. “As an industry first, the vessels will offer Maersk customers truly carbon-neutral transportation at scale on the high seas.”
This is the second such announcement from Maersk in as many weeks. The company last week said it would work with REintegrate, a subsidiary of Danish renewable company European Energy, to establish a facility to feed the first vessel operating on green methanol for the shipping company.
Maersk in July agreed on a contract with a division of South Korean company Hyundai for a dual-engine container vessel that can sail under the power of methanol or very-low sulphur fuel oil. The vessel, which will fly under the Danish flag, will measure 172 m long and is planned for the Baltic shipping lane between Northern Europe and the Bay of Bothnia, off the western coast of Finland. It could be ready as early as 2022.