Maersk has methanol problems:- They work, but require too much maintenance
AP Moller-Maersk continues to face challenges with the methanol engines installed on the company’s newly built container ships.
This was shared by Maersk’s senior ship engineer Ola Straby during the Global Maritime Decarbonisation 2025conference, according to TradeWinds:
– They work, but they require too much maintenance. We need to resolve that, he said, pointing to issues with material selection and parts that have low operational reliability at low loads.
Four of the shipping company's vessels are currently running on grey – that is, fossil – methanol. Straby explained that the aim is to get the ships operating on methanol to achieve some “clean operational hours.”
I’m not going to say where we’re going to get the fuel from Ola Straby, ship engineer at Maersk
Maersk aims to run on green methanol, but the availability of the fuel is a challenge. According to Straby, the company was aware from the beginning that green methanol would not be available at the time of the ships' delivery.
– I’m not going to say where we’re going to get the fuel from, he remarked.
25 methanol ships – 12 delivered
According to Straby, Maersk has ordered a total of 25 container ships with methanol engines. Twelve of these have already been delivered, and four are running on methanol. The smallest, the feeder ship Laura Maersk (2,100 TEU), has been running on green methanol and biodiesel since its delivery in 2023.
Straby described the methanol bunkering process as “pretty straightforward,” noting that Maersk has completed around 30 operations – including ship-to-ship transfers, deliveries at the quay, from a dedicated supplier in Shanghai, and via a smaller chemical tanker.
He emphasized that standardization is an important takeaway and added, “Methanol bunkering is not standardized.”
A concrete example is the positioning of bunkering stations: Maersk had initially placed them aft on the ships, but the lack of dedicated methanol bunkering ships has meant that deliveries often take place from the side when the vessels are at the quay.
Straby also mentioned that much of the behavior of methanol is surprisingly poorly documented. Therefore, the company is working to promote studies and create a shared knowledge base.
