Maersk has decided to retrofit an existing ship to a dual-fuel methanol powered vessel and thereby be able to sail on green methanol. For this reason, the Danish shipping company has signed an agreement with MAN Energy Solutions (MAN ES) which will retrofit the engine.
This is expected to be the first engine retrofit in the industry and is scheduled to be conducted medio 2024 with the intent to replicate on sister vessels when going for special survey in 2027.
Meanwhile, aiming to achieve net-zero in 2040, Maersk has set tangible near-term targets for 2030 to ensure alignment with the Paris Agreement and Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) methodology. This translates to a 50% reduction in emissions per transported container in the Maersk Ocean fleet compared to 2020 levels, and furthermore, 25% of its container volume will be transported using green fuels by 2030.
“We have set an ambitious net-zero emissions target for 2040 across the entire business and have taken a leading role in decarbonising logistics. Retrofitting of engines to run on methanol is an important lever in our strategy,” commented Leonardo Sonzio, head of fleet Management and Technology at Maersk.
He added, “With this initiative, we wish to pave the way for future scalable retrofit programs in the industry and thereby accelerate the transition from fossil fuels to green fuels. Ultimately, we want to demonstrate that methanol retrofits can be a viable alternative to newbuildings.”
