AP Moller – Maersk and Hyundai Mipo Dockyard (HMD) have agreed on a contract for Hyundai Mipo to build a feeder ship with a dual-engine technology enabling it to sail on either methanol or traditional very low Sulphur fuel.
Maersk announced the intention to order the vessel, an industry first, on February 17, 2021. Expected to be delivered by mid-2023, the feeder vessel will fly the Danish flag.
The 2100 TEU feeder vessel will be 172 meters long and will sail in the network of Maersk subsidiary Sealand Europe on the Baltic shipping route between Northern Europe and the Bay of Bothnia.
The methanol propulsion configuration for the vessel will be developed by MAN Energy Solutions and Hyundai Engine and Machinery (main engine) and Himsen (aux engine) in collaboration with Hyundai Mipo and Maersk. Classification society will be American Bureau of Shipping (ABS).
”Developing this vessel is a significant challenge, but we have already come a long way in our work with the yard and the makers to reach this milestone. While we are pioneering these solutions for our industry, we are working with well-proven technologies and the cost potential from further scaling is becoming very clear to us,” says Ole Graa Jakobsen, Head of Fleet Technology, AP Moller – Maersk.
More than half of Maersk’s largest customers have set – or are in the process of setting – ambitious science-based or zero carbon targets for their supply chains, making the order another important step in its efforts to support the rising number of customers calling for carbon-neutral products.
“This groundbreaking container vessel shows that scalable solutions to properly solve shipping’s emissions challenge are available already today. From 2023, it will give us valuable experience in operating the container vessels of the future while offering a truly carbon neutral product for our many customers who look to us for help to decarbonise their supply chains,” says Henriette Hallberg Thygesen, CEO of Fleet & Strategic Brands, AP Moller – Maersk.
