All the top-10 largest box lines appear to be moving away from conventional fuels in some form or another, leading to an emerging dichotomy between LNG and methanol, reports The Loadstar.
Alphaliner highlights that orderbooks for vessels delivered from 2027 and beyond are now dominated by either LNG or methanol vessels, with China’s Cosco and Japan’s ONE the laggards of the group.
However Maersk certainly does not seem to have given up on methanol. Recently, Maersk converted an existing heavy-fuel powered vessel, Maersk Halifax, to be able to operate on methanol.
Green versions
Both LNG and methanol have ‘green’ and ‘grey’ counterparts, with green versions of the fuels not widely available in the current market landscape, but expected to become fully established later, theoretically providing a net-zero well-to-wake emissions offering in both cases.
A lack of CO2 emissions savings to begin with, Alphaliner said, “…means that the successful switch to methanol is contingent on a supply of ‘green’ methanol from day one”.
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Source: Loadstar
