Bio- and e-methanol continue to be the most promising alternative shipping fuels to scale up in this decade, and the agreement with LONGi serves as a testament to this. Global shipping’s main net-zero challenge is the price gap between fossil fuels and alternatives with lower greenhouse gas emissions. We continue to strongly urge the International Maritime Organization’s member states to level the playing field by adopting a global green fuel standard and an ambitious pricing mechanism, which the industry urgently needs,” said Rabab Raafat Boulos, Chief Operating Officer, A.P. Moller – Maersk.
With the addition of the LONGi volumes, Maersk is making progress in securing enough methanol for its owned dual-fuel methanol fleet, of which seven vessels are already in operation. Maersk’s combined methanol offtake agreements now meet more than 50% of the dual-fuel methanol fleet demand in 2027.
The agreement has evolved out of Maersk’s growing global alternative fuels portfolio, of which several other methanol projects are currently in advanced stages of maturity.
While we believe that the future of global logistics will see several pathways to net-zero, this agreement underscores the continued momentum for methanol projects that are pursued by ambitious developers across markets. China continues to play a pioneering role, and it is encouraging to also see strong market developments in other geographies as well. One example is the US, where we are engaging closely with several promising projects,” added Emma Mazhari, Head of Energy Markets at A.P. Moller – Maersk.
The agreement with LONGi delivers bio-methanol produced at a facility in Xu Chang, Central China. The bio-methanol is produced from residues (straw and fruit tree cuttings). It will meet Maersk’s methanol sustainability requirements, including at least 65% reductions in GHG emissions on a lifecycle basis compared to fossil fuels.
