Moller-Maersk hints on its retrofits, rather than new vessel orders, in taking the company towards decarbonising its fleet, says an article published in Ship & Bunker.
No massive capital expenditure
According to CEO Søren Skou, the company was not expecting the need to decarbonise resulting in massive capital expenditure in the years ahead.
“In terms of CAPEX guidance and fuel technology, first of all we’re still working on figuring out what is the best fuel for us for the future,” Skou said.
Retrofit is the right solution
“But the alternatives that we are looking at are fuels like alcohols, like ammonia and so on, which basically use the basic principle of a combustion engine.”
“That means that if we end up finding exactly the right solution, then there will be a big retrofit opportunity for us.”
Cost of decarbonisation
The cost of decarbonisation is a significant worry overhanging the shipping industry. The idea that the fleet could largely be retrofitted to run on new fuels, rather than parts of it needing to be scrapped early to be replaced by newbuildings, would come as a relief to many.
“Already today there are engines in the world that are marketed which run on methanol and alcohol, and ammonia engines are under development,” Skou added.
Maersk is the largest consumer of bunker fuel in the world, using 10.3 million mt in 2020. The company is also one of the largest corporate consumers of any type of oil.
Carbon-neutral ship
Recently Skou revealed Maersk expects to order its first carbon-neutral ship as soon as 2023.
“Three years from now, we expect to buy the first order … the first series of maybe small container ships that we can operate in a defined geographical area,” he said.
“Then we can go out and make supply contracts with people that can provide, whether it’s ammonia or alcohol, methanol and ethanol. We can fuel the ships that way, get the experience of what works operationally, or help make sure the safety works. Then we can be ready to start ordering large ships towards the end of this decade.”
“A ship has a life expectancy of between 20 and 25 years, so we need to start replacing ships by 2030 in order to be ready in 2050.”
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Source: Ship & Bunker
