Marking a debut, the Alette Maersk powered by green Methanol fuel was the first such vessel to cross the pacific ocean, a major achievement in the maritime sectors initiative to reduce carbon emissions. Starting from China the ship called at the port of Los Angeles, but to its disappointment it could not find a single source of clean fuel in the US, which forced the vessel to again bank on petroleum based marine fuel for the return trip.
The shipping industry that accounts for close to 3 Percent of global greenhouse gases needs more and cheaper green fuel if it is to decarbonize at the pace scientists and world governments say is necessary to fight climate change. Maersk already has five ships operational on green Methanol and has further ordered 20 more such vessels. These ships can be dual fueled, which means they can use fossil fuel if green fuel is unavailable or too expensive.
The clean fuels now cost two to three times more than fossil fuels and global production is currently miniscule. China’s Goldwind has guaranteed green methanol supplies for the first of Maersk’s 12 large ocean-going vessels to burn that fuel, with deliveries starting in 2026. But another potential supplier Orsted has put on-hold its plans to build the largest e-methanol plant in Europe, saying that the green fuels market was developing more slowly than expected.
