Maersk showcases design of its methanol powered box ships

Maersk Line, the world’s biggest container shipping company, on Wednesday show-cased the design of eight carbon neutral, methanol powered huge box ships it has ordered at South Korea’s Hyundai Heavy Industries.

The carrier owned by Danish shipping and transport behemoth A P Moller Maersk Group A/S said it is “a very meaningful and impactful first step” towards the goal becoming carbon neutral by 2050 including developing a commercially viable net-zero C02 vessel by 2030.

The 16,000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) capacity ships will use green methanol as fuel, allowing the vessels to attain 20 per cent improved energy efficiency per transported container compared to the industry average and help save around one million tons of CO2 emissions a year across the eight-ships.

The vessels, measuring 350 meters long and 53.5 meters wide, will be equipped with dual fuel engines that allows the ships to be run on carbon-neutral green methanol as well as conventional low sulphur fuel. The ships will have a 16,000 cubic meter green methanol fuel tank to complete a full round trip.

The ships are designed with a forward accommodation to enable greater container capacity (by as much as 7%) and improved port efficiency by separating the accommodation and funnel. The funnel is also designed with a reduced footprint and will be located at the stern to maximize cargo capacity.

The design of the vessels was presented during a virtual presentation on Wednesday by Emiliano Austi, Head of Naval Architecture, Ole Graa Jakobsen, Head of Fleet Technology and Morten Bo Christiansen, Head of Decarbonization.

Morten Bo Christiansen said Maersk was engaged “in dialogue with very serious partners” on sourcing green methanol, including on pricing, which is expected to be wrapped up by the first half of 2022.

Maersk hinted it may have to absorb a portion of the extra costs or a so-called “green premium” associated with running ships on green methanol, which could cost at least 2-3 times more than the price of conventional oil.

The methanol propulsion configuration has been developed in collaboration with MAN ES, Hyundai (Himsen) and Alfa Laval.

The vessels, slated to hit water by 2024, will be classed by the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) and sail under the Danish flag.

Source: Business Line