Hyundai Heavy Industries will deliver the 16,000 TEUs of capacity vessels in Q1 2024, with an option to add four more in 2025.

The newbuilds will replace older ships, cutting the company's carbon footprint by around 1.0mt/year.

The box ships, flying the Danish flag, will feature dual-fuel engines. The American Bureau of Shipping will be in charge of classifying them.

"Maersk will operate the vessels on carbon neutral e-methanol or sustainable bio-methanol as soon as possible. Sourcing an adequate amount of carbon neutral methanol from day one in service will be challenging, as it requires a significant production ramp up of proper carbon neutral methanol production, for which Maersk continues to engage in partnerships and collaborations with relevant players," the company wrote in a press release.

Søren Skou, A.P. Møller - Mærsk's CEO, underlined, "The time to act is now, if we are to solve shipping's climate challenge. This order proves that carbon neutral solutions are available today across container vessel segments and that Maersk stands committed to the growing number of our customers who look to decarbonise their supply chains. Further, this is a firm signal to fuel producers that sizable market demand for the green fuels of the future is emerging at speed."

Henriette Hallberg Thygesen, CEO of A.P. Møller - Mærsk's Fleet & Strategic Brands, also commented, "We are very excited about this addition to our fleet, which will offer our customers unique access to carbon neutral transport on the high seas while balancing their needs for competitive slot costs and flexible operations. To us, this is the ideal large vessel type to enable sustainable, global trade on the high seas in the coming decades and from our dialogue with potential suppliers, we are confident we will manage to source the carbon neutral methanol needed."

Photo: Canva