The world’s biggest shipping company is investing $1.4bn (£1bn) to speed up its switch to carbon neutral operations, ordering eight container vessels that can be fueled by green methanol as well as traditional bunker fuel.
The Danish shipping business Maersk said the investment in new vessels would help to ship goods from companies including H&M Group and Unilever, while saving more than 1m tons of carbon emissions a year by replacing older fossil fuel-driven ships.
In the first quarter of 2024, A.P. Moller - Maersk will introduce the first in a groundbreaking series of 8 large ocean-going container vessels capable of being operated on carbon neutral methanol. The vessels will be built by Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) and have a nominal capacity of approx. 16,000 containers (Twenty Foot Equivalent - TEU).
The vessel order, placed with South Korea’s Hyundai Heavy Industries, is the single largest step taken so far to decarbonize the global shipping industry, which is responsible for almost 3% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions.
The shipping industry has been relatively slow to react to calls to reduce fossil fuel use, in part because cleaner alternatives have been in short supply and are more expensive.
Søren Skou, the Maersk chief executive, said: “The time to act is now, if we are to solve shipping’s climate challenge.
“This order proves that carbon neutral solutions are available today across container vessel segments and that Maersk stands committed to the growing number of our customers who look to decarbonise their supply chains.
“Further, this is a firm signal to fuel producers that sizeable market demand for the green fuels of the future is emerging at speed.”
The eight vessels, which will each have capacity for 16,000 containers, are expected to be delivered by early 2024. They will be 10-15% more expensive than bunker fuel container ships, each costing $175m.
The agreement with HHI includes an option for 4 additional vessels in 2025. The series will replace older vessels, generating annual CO2 emissions savings of around 1 million tonnes. As an industry first, the vessels will offer Maersk customers truly carbon neutral transportation at scale on the high seas. More than half of Maersk’s 200 largest customers have set – or are in the process of setting – ambitious science-based or zero carbon targets
