World’s largest methanol ship in action

Christened in Aarhus in August, the 16,592 teu Antonia Maersk serves the AE5/Albatross route, part of the 2M shipping alliance.

This is the second methanol-powered container ship to regularly call at the port after the Laura Maersk began serving the Gothenburg/Bremerhaven route earlier this spring.

“This ship represents another piece of the puzzle for the transition towards sustainable shipping,” said Jacob Minnhagen, senior market development manager at the Port of Gothenburg.

“It is, of course, particularly exciting that this ship regularly calls at the Port of Gothenburg on one of our most important trade routes, benefiting Swedish industry.

“And in addition to reducing our customers transport emissions—it also reduces emissions in our port and provides cleaner air in the city of Gothenburg.”

Both ships are powered by bio-methanol, which means a savings of 280 tonnes of carbon dioxide each day the ship is in operation, according to Maersk’s own data.

“With Antonia Maersk, we are taking another important, concrete step in the green transition of shipping and enhancing our Sweden-based customers’ ability to further reduce their transport emissions,” said Birna Ödefors, area managing director Nordics at A.P. Moller Maersk, adding that the company was planning a further 20 methanol-powered ships by 2027.

Today, there are around 30 methanol-powered container ships in operation with nearly 300 more on order. Methanol-powered ships account for about 10% of the total order book today. The Port of Gothenburg is focusing on a wide range of alternative fuels and aims to become Scandinavia’s largest hub for renewable energy.