In the ongoing road towards alternative fuels, Maersk announced the possibility of choosing a zero-emission alternative to fossil fuels rather than choosing LNG as a bridging fuel for the company’s fleet.
During Maersk’s presentation about Q3 earnings, Søren Skou, Chief Executive Officer of A.P. Møller – Mærsk A/S explained
We don’t believe that LNG will play a big role for us as a transition fuel, because it is still a fossil fuel and we would rather go from what we do today straight to a neutral type of fuel. However, that will be years into the future I suspect.
He added that the company has been focusing on what the future fuel could be, prior to start ordering any new vessels.
In line with looking for alternative fuels, Maersk teamed up with ABS, Cargill, MAN Energy Solutions, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, NYK Lines and Siemens Energy in setting up the Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller Center for Zero Carbon Shipping. The center will focus on the development of new fuel types and technologies with the aim of achieving the IMO 2050 target and eventually fully decarbonize operations.
To remind, many have been the shipping players that supporting that LNG is the likely transition fuel for the shipping sector due to major breakthroughs made over the past few years in the development of the necessary bunkering infrastructure.
For instance, CMA CGM has invested heavily in LNG, powering its new generation of ultra-large containerships by LNG. Similarly, Hapag-Lloyd is also exploring the viability of this option having launched the retrofit of its LNG-ready containership Sajir at the Chinese shipyard Huarun Dadong Dockyard Co earlier this year, but has stated that currently LNG containership conversions are not economically viable.
