The world’s first methanol-enabled container vessel was officially named Laura Mærsk in a ceremony held at the Port of Copenhagen. The vessel arrived in Copenhagen this week, after a maiden voyage that started in South Korea, where it was built by shipbuilder Hyundai Mipo Dockyard.
With a methanol-enabled engine, is the first of its kind and is an important step towards the company’s goal of net zero emissions by 2040. Maersk aims to transport a minimum of 25 percent of its cargo using green fuels by 2030, with a long-term objective of its entire fleet operating on green fuels. The company has 24 methanol vessels on order for delivery between 2024 and 2027 and a policy to only order new, owned vessels that come with a green fuel option.
The green methanol will be produced from manure over the next year by Norwegian state-owned energy company Equinor. This is scheduled to be replaced in the long term by Danish solar energy producer European Energy.
Yesterday it was announced that Maersk has teamed up with its majority owner to form a new company to produce green methanol. A.P. Moller Holding (APMH) has formed a new company C2X that will pursue large-scale green methanol projects near the Suez Canal in Egypt and the port of Huelva in Spain, as well as in several other locations. C2X is majority-owned by APMH while Maersk holds a 20% stake.
C2X will sell to the shipping industry as well as to chemical companies. The new company will be led by Brian Davis, an ex-Shell Plc oil-industry veteran, while the finance chief will be Alastair Maxwell, formerly of Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs Group Inc.
