Maersk completes order of 20 dual-fuel vessels

Together with the subscription of rentals for half a million TEUs in the hold, the operation will allow the current volume of the fleet to be maintained while modernizing it for the ecological transition

Copenhagen, Denmark – A.P. Moller – Maersk (Maersk) has signed agreements with three yards for a total of 20 container vessels equipped with dual-fuel engines. Combined, the vessels have a capacity of 300,000 TEU. With these orders, Maersk concludes the intended owned newbuilding orders announced in the August 2024 update of the fleet renewal plan.

All 20 ships will be equipped with liquified gas dual-fuel propulsion systems and vary in size from 9,000 to 17,000 TEU.The 20 dual-fuel LNG newbuildings will provide a total capacity of 300,000 TEUs.

The objective is to maintain total capacity at around 4.4 million TEUs, divided according to Alphaliner between 330 owned ships and another 387 chartered ships.The first vessels will be delivered in 2028, and the last delivery will take place in 2030.

Deliveries are expected between 2028 and 2030 with the majority of orders going to Chinese shipbuilders and six ships from South Korea’s Hanwha Ocean.

“These orders are part of our ongoing fleet renewal program and are in line with our commitment to decarbonisation, as all ships will have dual-fuel engines with the intention of running them on low-emission fuel,” he said Anda Cristescu, head of chartering and new construction at Maersk.

The August fleet update further announced the intention to charter a range of methanol and liquified gas dual-fuel vessels totalling 500,000 TEU capacity. Maersk has now finalised these charter contracts across several tonnage providers. When phased in, the charter vessels will replace existing capacity.

Facts about Maersk’s newbuilding orders of 20 vessels:

• 20 dual-fuel vessels ordered with a total capacity of 300,000 TEU
• 2x 9,000 TEU vessels ordered at Yangzijiang Shipbuilding, China
• 12x 15,000 TEU vessels (6 at Hanwha Ocean, South Korea and 6 at New Times Shipbuilding, China)
• 6x 17,000 TEU at vessels at Yangzijiang Shipbuilding, China
• The vessels will be equipped with liquified gas dual-fuel propulsion systems

DNV principal analyst Martin Christian Wold, who in October became CEO of DNV subsidiary Ofiniti, a digital fuel supply company, reported in October that newbuild orders for LNG ships hit “a record 66 ships ordered, an all-time high, breaking the old record of April 2022.” Methanol, although growing with 29 ships in October, remains under half of LNG orders. For November, DNVdata shows that 23 of the 27 ships ordered were dual-fuel LNG.

Both Maersk and now Hapag-Lloyd have signed large supply deals with China’s Goldwind for biofuels for their fleets. However, the industry also continues to call for fuel incentives to create mechanisms to support the transition.

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