AP Moller-Maersk has tapped oil major Equinor for green methanol for its new dual-fuel feeder ship.
The bunkers will be supplied for the vessel’s initial months of operation from September 2023 and into the first half of 2024.
The agreement ensures green methanol supply for the ship from its entry into operation on a loop from northern Europe into the Baltic Sea after the name-giving ceremony later this month in Copenhagen.
The world’s first methanol-powered boxship was initially referred to as the Maersk Solstice.
The green methanol will be bunkered in Rotterdam.
Equinor is an established player in the European methanol market through its production plant at Tjeldbergodden, said the Norwegian company’s senior vice president for liquid commodities, Alex Grant.
“We have ambitions to be a key provider of green methanol in the marine fuel segment,” he added.
The biomethanol is produced from biogas from manure on a mass-balance basis.
Maersk explained it can be produced in existing facilities and moved using existing infrastructure.
“It is critical to get energy majors to the table and start supplying future fuels at scale. This is the form of engagement we need to continue, accelerating the pioneering journey towards a green fuel economy for global shipping,” said Maersk’s chief infrastructure officer Rabab Boulos.
More than 100 methanol vessels coming
“With more than 100 methanol-enabled vessels on order across the industry, the demand for green fuel production is rising and will continue to do so in the years to come,” he added.
In the long term, the feeder vessel will be fuelled by e-methanol from a plant in southern Denmark, operated by European Energy. This is expected to come onstream in the first half of 2024.
Maersk has 24 additional methanol vessels on order for delivery between 2024 and 2027 and has a policy to only order new ships that come with a green fuel option.
TradeWinds reported the new feeder unit made a fourth and final stop for bunkers in the Dutch port of Rotterdam after leaving South Korea on its debut voyage earlier in the summer.
The 2,100-teu vessel was using OCI HyFuels green methanol.
Dutch fuel supplier OCI Global claimed this was the first green methanol bunkering operation in Europe.
