Danish methanol-powered ship enters Hamburg port for 1st time

A methanol-powered container ship by Danish shipping company Maersk entered the Port of Hamburg for the first time early Thursday morning, reported dpa.

The Ane Maersk is the first large, methanol-capable container ship from the Danish shipping company and has a capacity of more than 16,000 standard containers (TEU).

Over the next two years, Maersk plans to put 17 more container ships of this size into operation, which will be fuelled with so-called green methanol. The company says these larger ships can save up to 280 tons of CO2 per day over their fossil fuel-powered counterparts.

Green methanol is virtually CO2-neutral and is considered a promising fuel to replace fossil fuels such as marine diesel or heavy fuel oil. However, the production of green methanol requires a lot of electricity from renewable sources, which is why the fuel is still in short supply.

In September 2023, the company christened the smaller Laura Maersk, which according to the shipping company is the world's first methanol-capable container ship.

Its big sister Ane Maersk was the first of the larger series of ships to set sail at the beginning of February. It was built by Hyundai Heavy Industries in South Korea.

In future, Ane will be travelling between Asia and Europe. The route, which starts in Ningbo in China and passes through the Suez Canal, connects Asian and European ports, including Germany's largest seaport in Hamburg.

Maersk currently uses bio-methanol for its ships. However, the aim is to switch to e-methanol, which is produced synthetically using CO2 and green hydrogen. According to a spokesman, e-methanol could save up to 95% of emissions in the long term - including emissions from the production and transport of the fuel.