SIMIC

WHEN the 16,000-TEU Alette Maersk, the first methanol powered box ship to cross the Pacific, it could find no source of green fuel in the United States, Reuters reported.

This forced it to rely on petroleum-based maritime fuel for the return trip. Green fuel now costs two to three times more than fossil fuels.



Maersk said the industry that accounts for three per cent of global greenhouse gases needs more and cheaper green fuel if it is to decarbonize at the pace governments say is necessary. "We're on a clock," said Maersk CEO Vincent Clerc.



Maersk aims to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions in 2040 and has emerged as a leader in its sector's energy transition with five green methanol ships on the water and another 20 on order.



Even so, that represents just a fraction of its 700 owned and chartered ships. The new ships are also dual-fuelled, meaning they are equipped to run on fossil fuels when needed, like when green methanol is too expensive or unavailable.



Green methanol can be made from agricultural and food waste, or from carbon dioxide and hydrogen using electricity.



China's Goldwind has guaranteed green methanol supplies for the first of Maersk's 12 large ocean-going vessels to burn that fuel, with deliveries starting in 2026.



But potential supplier Orsted is dropping plans to build the largest e-methanol plant under construction in Europe, saying that the green fuels market was developing more slowly than expected. E-methanol is made with CO2 captured from renewable sources.



Mr Clerc said Maersk had asked the Biden administration to use the Inflation Reduction Act to incentivize green maritime fuel, as it has done for the trucking and aviation sectors.



Maersk and CMA CGM, Hapag-Lloyd and MSC have also proposed a regulatory framework to the International Maritime Organisation. That includes a plan to levy a "green balance fee" on carriers that gain a competitive advantage by clinging to lower-cost fossil fuels.



"We need regulations and legislation to level the playing field," said Saba Takidar, Maersk's senior commercial sustainability partner. "The whole fuel ecosystem has to change."