News / Not enough methanol supply to decarbonise, say Maersk and CMA CGM

Photo: Alison Koo

Maersk Line and CMA CGM clim they are finding it hard to secure sufficient affordable methanol to achieve vessel decarbonisation.

Company executives who spoke at the Marine Fuels 360 event in Singapore yesterday called for more industry collaboration with governments and fuel suppliers.

AP Møller-Maersk’s head of fleet operations east, Dinesh Kumar Balraj, said: “We have ordered methanol-fuelled ships, but we’re facing difficulty in getting the methanol supply.”

Last December, Maersk completed orders for 20 dual-fuelled containerships, able to run on LNG or methanol, in addition to conventional fuel.

“We’ve secured some long-term supply, until 2026, but it’s still not at a pace that we would like it to be.”

CMA CGM international shipping MD François-Xavier Accard said each type of alternative fuel had a different pace of infrastructural development. While the facilities and fuel supply for LNG bunkering are ready in many ports, the same cannot be said for other fuels, he explained.

“The infrastructure is in place for methanol, the first ship-to-ship transfer of methanol bunkering has been done. However, we’re still struggling to find an affordable quantity [of methanol bunkers],” Mr Accard said.

“If you talk about future fuels like ammonia, it’s just at the start. It’s moving, but it’s slower than expected,” he added.

CMA CGM says it will have 170 containerships capable of using alternative fuels in operation by 2028, including 34 with methanol dual-fuel specification.

“There’s definitely a lot of pressure on the industry, no doubt,” Mr Kumar Balraj said. “But I’ve seen in recent years, how the maritime industry has overcome the challenges, and the resilience of the industry has shown through these challenges.

“There needs to be a lot more partnership within the industry with fuel suppliers. We hope for regulatory support with the upcoming IMO regulations… this will really push the industry to invest more in fuel supply for the future. This where we’re hoping we can make a change,” he explained.