Maersk Struggles with Methanol Ship Engine Problems, Bunkering Non-Standardization

(Ocean Press) "Engine maintenance takes too much effort" -- Maersk is struggling with engine problems and bunkering non-standards on its methanol-powered container ships.

“We are experiencing ongoing issues with our methanol dual-fuel propulsion engines on container ships, and as a result, we are burning grey methanol,” Ola Straby, Maersk’s chief shipbuilder, said at the “Global Ocean Decarbonization 2025” seminar.

Maersk has ordered 25 methanol-powered dual-propulsion container ships, 12 of which have been delivered and four are currently operating on methanol.

Straby said the fueling system of the methanol-powered dual-propulsion vessel was working well, but the engine still had initial issues with material selection and the reliability of some components. “The engine is working, but it requires too much maintenance. That needs to be addressed,” he said.

Maersk ultimately aims to run on green methanol, but he is having trouble securing the fuel. Gray methanol emits more greenhouse gases than LNG.

“We knew from the beginning that Maersk would not be able to use green methanol when they took delivery of the vessel,” Straby said.

However, the 2,100 TEU 'Laura Maersk' (built in 2023), the only feeder ship among methanol dual-propulsion ships, has continued to operate on eco-friendly methanol and biodiesel since delivery.

Straby said bunkering methanol was "pretty straightforward," but noted that "the most important lesson Maersk has learned is that standardization is key, and methanol bunkering is not standardized at all."

Maersk has completed about 30 methanol bunkering operations to date, including ship-to-ship bunkering, dockside deliveries, dedicated bunkering vessels in Shanghai, and bunkering on small chemical tankers.

Regarding standardization, Straby cited the case of placing the fuel supply station at the back of a ship, pointing out that this location would be appropriate for a methanol-only supply vessel, but due to a lack of dedicated vessels, most vessels had to park alongside the ship and supply fuel to the stern. READ MORE

When the methanol-fuelled Laura Maersk, currently doing duty in the Baltic, was launched in late 2023, it was a leap in the dark, as the parent company confessed.

Since then, the container ship has so successfully proved its viability that Maersk is busily ensuring reliable supplies of the alternative fuel for its expanding fleet of alternatively-fuelled vessels.

In late 2024, Maersk signed with China-based LONGi Green Energy for supplies of bio-methanol, with first volumes coming available in 2026. “Bio and e-methanol continue to be the most promising alternative shipping fuels to scale up in this decade,” says A.P. Moller-Maersk executive vice president and chief operating officer, Rabab Raafat Boulous. “The agreement with LONGi serves as a testament to this,” says Ms Boulous. LONGi’s bio-methanol is produced from residues such as straw and fruit tree cuttings.

Simultaneously, Maersk is looking to the US where the group is “engaging closely with several promising projects”, according to Emma Mazhari, head of energy markets.

Meantime the methanol-fuelled fleet is building steadily. An early 2025 survey by DNV listed 25 container ships and a further 208 on order, 25 oil/chemical tankers with 33 on order, 52 bulk carrier and 20 car carriers on order, with interest growing among “other offshore vessels and roro cargo vessels”. Maersk alone is running a 14-strong dual-fuel methanol fleet, the group confirms, with more on its order books. These are sized at 16,200 TEU and 17,000 TEU, stepping up from Laura Maersk which is serving as a test bed for larger vessels.

Meantime, enginebuilders are rising to the challenge. Everllence, the former MAN Energy Solutions, is in the process of converting 11 two-stroke engines to run on methanol for Maersk. Everllence has years of experience – it put its first methanol-juiced engine into service way back in 2016. Next up in the engine designer’s priorities are four-strokes for cruise ships, ferries and workboats. Here, the company is taking the dual-fuel route with engines that can be converted to methanol, as well as retrofit packages for existing engines.

In June, Everllence was due to deliver the world’s most powerful two-stroke methanol engine, an MAN B&W 12G95ME-C10.5-LGIM. Built by its Chinese licensee, CSSC-MES Diesel Co, Ltd, the engine is rated at 82,440 kW at 80 rpm. CMD is building 12 of these massive behemoths for a dozen 24,000-TEU container vessels currently under construction; seven of the box ships are being built at Nantong COSCO KHI Ship Engineering Co for shipowner, Orient Overseas Container Line and five at Dalian COSCO KHI Ship Engineering Co for shipowner, COSCO Shipping Lines.

Methanol dual fuel engine options are widening for cruise, ferry, tug and workboat owners, too. READ MORE