Maersk CEO asks IMO to close fuels 'price gap' as sixth methanol box ship debuts

Alexandra Maersk christened

UK Maritime Minister Mike Kane, representatives of the IMO, customers and Maersk employees joined the event to christen Maersk’s latest methanol dual-fuel box ship at the Port of Felixstowe, UK.

Primark, one of Maersk’s customers and logistics and sustainability partners, saw its people and culture director Elaine Condon act as the vessel’s godmother.

Alexandra Maersk is the sixth vessel in Maersk’s owned fleet able to sail on methanol in its main and auxiliary engines and the fifth ship in a series of 18 large dual-fuel methanol vessels scheduled for delivery in 2024 and 2025. Each of the line’s large dual-fuel methanol vessels can carry more than 16,000 standard containers (TEU).

“This is exactly the kind of innovation we need to deliver a greener, cleaner maritime sector which is better for people and for our planet,” said UK Maritime Minister Mike Kane. “Delivering greener transport is one of our top priorities and we will do so by reducing harmful greenhouse gas emissions and investing in alternative fuels and technologies.”

“Through our partnership with Maersk we have started to introduce green fuel alternatives, such as biofuel, when shipping our products. By using Maersk’s ECO Delivery Ocean product and replacing fossil fuels with green fuel alternatives on Maersk’s cargo ships, we are reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in our ocean shipping," Primark CEO Paul Marchant said, noting the company’s stated ambition to halve its carbon emissions across the value chain by 2030.

Maersk’s ECO Delivery Ocean is based on reduced GHG emission fuels such as bio-diesel and green methanol.

The line reiterated that methanol remains at the core of Maersk’s decarbonisation plans. Low-emission methanol can reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in ship operations by 65% to 90%, as compared to conventional fossil fuels such as bunker oil, calculated on a life-cycle basis. The wide range for potential emissions reductions indicates the importance of the feedstock and production process for the methanol fuel.

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