Maersk orders six more green fuel ships, taking total to 25

Shipping company AP Moller-Maersk has ordered six mid-size dual-fuel container vessels from China's Yangzijiang Shipbuilding Group.

The ships, which can operate on fuel oil and green methanol, will be able to carry over 9,000 containers each. Deliveries will begin in 2026 and will be used to replace existing vessels in the Maersk fleet, the company said.

Maersk ordered its first methanol-powered ship in 2021 following a commitment to only ordering new vessels that can sail on green fuels, and now has 25 such vessels on order. The first will be fueled by OCI Global, which announced it would supply biomethanol to the ship on its maiden voyage later this year.

Maersk has announced plans to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2040, and aims to transport at least a quarter of ocean cargo using green fuels by 2030, compared to a 2020 baseline.

The marine sector accounts for three percent of global greenhouse gas emissions.

"With this order, we take another step in the green transformation of our fleet and towards our target of becoming net-zero in 2040. As with all our other vessel orders for the last two years, these ships will be able to run on green methanol," Rabab Boulos, Chief Infrastructure Officer at Maersk, said in a statement. "For these six container vessels, we have chosen a design and vessel size which make them very flexible from a deployment point of view."