SIMIC

DANISH shipping giant AP Moller-Maersk (Maersk) has announced its plan to launch the first of its 18 large methanol-enabled vessels currently on order, reports London's Port Technology.

Maersk said it will commence service on the AE7 line between Asia and Europe on February 9, 2024, with port calls in Shanghai, Tanjung Pelepas, Colombo, and Hamburg, with Ningbo, China, as its maiden destination.



According to Maersk, the container vessel built by Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) in South Korea has a nominal capacity of 16,000 TEU and is equipped with a dual-fuel engine enabling operations on methanol as well as biodiesel and conventional bunker fuel.



Maersk has set a net-zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions target for 2040 across the entire business and has also set tangible and ambitious near-term targets for 2030 to ensure significant progress.



Maersk has secured sufficient green methanol to cover the vessel's maiden voyage and continues to work diligently on 2024-25 sourcing solutions for its methanol-enabled vessel fleet.



The ship will be named at the shipyard in late January 2024, before its deployment. The next two sister ships will be deployed in the first half of 2024, with naming ceremonies in Yokohama, Japan, and Los Angeles, California. Maersk hopes to receive four more sister vessels in the second half of 2024.



When the first large vessel is deployed, it will reportedly be the world's second container vessel capable of sailing on green methanol, the first being the feeder vessel Laura Maersk, which commenced service in September of this year.



In October, Hutchison Ports' Felixstowe port celebrated the first visit of the Laura Maersk, Maersk's first containership to finish a trip fuelled by green methanol.