Approximately 93,000 ships sail the oceans worldwide and this number is expected to increase along with the rising demand for international trade. In 2019, shipping accounted for around 2-3 per cent of energy related CO2 emissions in 2019. Accordingly, the potential and impact of decarbonising international shipping is great.

In 2023, A.P. Moller – Maersk will introduce the world’s first container vessel capable of being operated on carbon neutral methanol in Northern Europe. A series of twelve large ocean-going container vessels will follow shortly after in 2024.

Being the largest container shipping company in the world, the company has set an ambitious goal of having a carbon neutral fleet by 2050. All future Maersk new buildings will have dual fuel technology installed.

While the vessels will be able to operate on standard very low sulphur fuel oil (VLSFO), the plan is to operate the vessels on carbon neutral e-methanol or sustainable bio-methanol from day one. Carbon neutral e-methanol is produced through Power-to-X technologies.

REintegrate and European Energy will establish a new Danish facility to produce the carbon neutral e-methanol for the first of the new container vessels. Maersk will work closely with REintegrate and European Energy on the development of the facility.

The methanol facility will use renewable energy and biogenic CO2 to produce the e-methanol. The energy needed for the power-to-methanol production will be provided by a solar farm in Kassø, Southern Denmark.

The new container ships will replace older container ships and they will reportedly ensure a reduction in the company’s total CO₂ emissions of around one million tonnes.

Contributor: A.P. Moller – Maersk