Maersk orders 800,000 TEU methanol and liquified gas dual-fuel vessels

Maersk is signing off new building orders and time-charter contracts for 800,000 TEU methanol and liquified gas dual-fuel vessels – as part of its fleet renewal program initiated in 2021 to order around 160,000 TEU per year.

Sustainable marine fuels

Rabab Boulos, chief operating officer at Maersk, said, “Our fleet renewal program is fundamental to maintaining a competitive edge in our ocean business, and it is a cornerstone in decarbonizing our operations. As the shipyard order books have been filling up quickly and lead time for vessel deliveries has increased significantly, we decided to place orders and charter contracts for 800,000 TEU dual-fuel vessels, which ensures a steady flow of needed capacity for our network for 2026-2030 while building a competitive toolkit.”

In line with Maersk’s commitment to decarbonization, all vessels will be dual-fuel with the intent to operate them on low emissions fuel. To ensure the long-term competitiveness of the fleet and its ability to deliver on the decarbonization goals, Maersk has elected a mix of methanol and liquified gas dual-fuel propulsion systems. While the company argues that green methanol is likely to become the most competitive and scalable pathway to decarbonization in the short term, Maersk also foresees a multifuel future for the industry which includes liquified bio-methane. Once the vessels have been delivered, around 25% of the Maersk fleet will be equipped with dual-fuel engines.

The exact split of propulsion technologies will be determined considering the future regulatory framework and green fuel supply. Maersk has commenced the work of securing offtake agreements for liquified bio-methane (bio-LNG) to ensure that the new dual-fuel gas vessels provide greenhouse gas emissions reductions in this decade.

Maersk’s strategic vessel contracts

The orders will reach a total of 50-60 combining both owned and chartered dual-fuel vessels equaling 800,000 TEU. Approximately 300,000 TEU will be owned capacity while the remaining 500,000 TEU is planned through time-charter agreements. This is intended to ensure that Maersk maintains strong financial and operational flexibility while continuing to own a significant part of its strategic tonnage. The vessels also come in different sizes to offer network optionality. Maersk has previously announced the orders of 25 owned dual-fuel methanol vessels; five in service and 20 on order providing around 350,000 TEU of dual-fuel capacity.

Ahmed Hassan, head of asset strategy and strategic partnerships at Maersk, commented, “These orders will not add to the overall capacity and over time every vessel coming in will be replacing a scrapped vessel having reached end of life, ensuring that we maintain our fleet size at around 4.3 million TEU. By diversifying our fleet and fuel options, we gain the flexibility, knowledge and experience to cater to a future with multiple fuel paths. We thank our partners for working with us to move the industry further toward enabling a future with decarbonized ocean transport.”

In related news, Maersk recently launched the first of its 18 large methanol-enabled vessels currently on order. Click here to read the full story.