Maersk has finally revealed details of the construction of its first methanol-fuelled boxship. The Danish container shipping giant has signed with South Korea’s Hyundai Mipo Dockyard to build a dual-fuelled 2,100 teu ship that will trade in northern Europe.

“This groundbreaking container vessel shows that scalable solutions to properly solve shipping’s emissions challenge are available already today. From 2023 it will give us valuable experience in operating the container vessels of the future while offering a truly carbon neutral product for our many customers who look to us for help to decarbonize their supply chains,” said Henriette Hallberg Thygesen, CEO of fleet and strategic brands at A.P. Moller – Maersk.

Maersk announced its intention to order a methanol-fuelled ship in February and last month Soren Skou, the company’s CEO, revealed in a webinar it had been ordered without saying where.

The feeder will be 172 m long and will sail in the network of Sealand Europe, a Maersk subsidiary, on the Baltic shipping route between northern Europe and the Bay of Bothnia.

The methanol propulsion configuration for the vessel will be developed by MAN Energy Solutions, Hyundai Engine and Machinery and Himsen. The ship will be classed by the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS).

“Developing this vessel is a significant challenge, but we have already come a long way in our work with the yard and the makers to reach this milestone. While we are pioneering these solutions for our industry, we are working with well-proven technologies and the cost potential from further scaling is becoming very clear to us,” said Ole Graa Jakobsen, head of fleet technology, A.P. Moller – Maersk.

Maersk has eschewed ordering LNG-fuelled ships, saying for more than a year that all future ships would be non-fossil fuel varieties.

More than half of Maersk’s largest customers have set – or are in the process of setting – science-based or zero carbon targets for their supply chains.