Maersk signs shipbuilding contract for world’s first container vessel fueled by carbon neutral methanol

 A.P. Moller – Maersk and Hyundai Mipo Dockyards have agreed on a contract for Hyundai Mipo to build a feeder vessel with a dual engine technology enabling it to sail on either methanol or traditional very low Sulphur fuel. Maersk announced the intention to order the vessel, an industry first, on 17 February 2021. It will fly the Danish flag.

“This groundbreaking container vessel shows that scalable solutions to properly solve shipping’s emissions challenge are available already today. From 2023 it will give us valuable experience in operating the container vessels of the future while offering a truly carbon neutral product for our many customers who look to us for help to decarbonize their supply chains,” says Henriette Hallberg Thygesen, CEO of Fleet & Strategic Brands, A.P. Moller – Maersk.

The feeder will be 172 meters long and will sail in the network of Sealand Europe, a Maersk subsidiary, on the Baltic shipping route between Northern Europe and the Bay of Bothnia. The methanol propulsion configuration for the vessel will be developed by MAN Energy Solutions and Hyundai Engine and Machinery (main engine) and Himsen (aux engine) in collaboration with Hyundai Mipo and Maersk. Classification society will be American Bureau of Shipping (ABS).