/INS. Maersk has signed and taken delivery of the world’s first methanol-fuelled container vessel, built at Hyundai Mipo Dockyard in South Korea.

The vessel is now preparing to embark on its maiden voyage towards Copenhagen with fuel provided by OCI Global.

The ship is scheduled to arrive in the Danish capital in September where Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, will be on hand to become the godmother of the high profile ship.

“The introduction of this container vessel is a significant step towards realizing our commitment to becoming carbon neutral, and it marks the beginning of a new era in shipping, where we together can minimize greenhouse gas emissions and create a greener future,” Maersk stated in a social media post yesterday.

Maersk set the ball rolling on methanol-fuelled newbuilds in 2021 with a series of 16,000 teu units plus this brand new 2,100 teu feeder as part of its goal to achieve net zero in 2040. Today it has 25 methanol-enabled vessels on order.

Underlining how it sees methanol as its key fuel for the 2020s, Maersk erecently announced another industry first that will see a retrofit of one of its ships to methanol dual-fuel in 2024.