A Maersk vessel will enter the first methanol-enabled service in February, on the AE7 string connecting Asia and Europe, which includes port calls in Shanghai, Tanjung Pelepas, Colombo and Hamburg with Ningbo, China, being its first destination.
According to Maersk, the container vessel built by Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) in South Korea has a nominal capacity of 16,000 containers (TEU) and is equipped with a dual-fuel engine enabling operations on methanol as well as biodiesel and conventional bunker fuel.
Deploying the first of our large methanol-enabled vessels on one of the world’s largest trade lanes, Asia – Europe, is a landmark in our journey towards our Net-Zero target.
Ahead of its deployment, the vessel will be named at the shipyard in end January 2024. The following two sister vessels will be deployed in the first half of 2024 with naming events taking place in Yokohama, Japan, and Los Angeles, USA. Maersk expects to take delivery of four additional sister vessels in the second half of 2024.
At the time of deployment of the first large vessel, it will be the only second container vessel in the world that can sail on green methanol, the first being the feeder vessel Laura Maersk which entered service in September this year.
Overview of Maersk vessels on order
- Maersk has 24 container vessels on order
- All vessels currently on order will be equipped with dual-fuel engines and will be able to operate on green methanol
- 12 of the vessels on order have a capacity of 16,000 TEU (Twenty-foot Equivalent Unit containers)
- 6 of the vessels on order have a capacity of 17,000 TEU
- 6 of the vessels on order have a capacity of 9,000 TEU
- Since 2021, Maersk has had a policy of only ordering new vessels able to operate on green fuels
About Maersk’s AE7 service string
- The AE7 string connects Asia and Europe through the Suez Canal
- The AE7 string has the following port calls: Ningbo, Shanghai, Nansha, Yantian (all China), Tanjung Pelepas (Malaysia), Colombo (Sri Lanka), Port Tangiers (Morocco), Felixstowe (UK), Hamburg (Germany), Antwerp (Belgium), London Gateway (UK), Le Havre (France), Port Tangiers, Jeddah (Saudi Arabia), Abu Dhabi (UAE) and Jebel Ali (UAE)
