Evergreen Marine Corp is pressing ahead with an order for 24 methanol dual-fuelled neo-panamax container ships, despite the current cost of green methanol being four times the price of very low-sulphur fuel oil.
Shipbuilding sources said South Korea’s Samsung Heavy Industries and Nihon Shipyard — a joint venture between Imabari Shipbuilding and Japan Marine United — have been selected as the preferred candidates to build the 16,000-teu neo-panamax container ships for the Taiwanese line in a project worth about $4bn.
News of Evergreen being on the hunt for the 24 methanol dual-fuel newbuildings was reported in TradeWinds in April.
Sources following Evergreen’s newbuilding project said the owner and liner operator only approached four shipyards — SHI, Hyundai Heavy Industries, Nihon and China’s Jiangnan Shipyard/Hudong Zhonghua Shipbuilding (Group) — for offers on the methanol-powered vessels.
One industry source said discussions on the newbuildings were ongoing between Evergreen and its two preferred shipbuilders.
“We think the 24-ship order will be split between Samsung and Nihon, with Samsung taking the lion’s share of the deal,” one shipbuilding source said.
“Samsung has experience in constructing dual-fuel propulsion vessels, while Nihon has yet to deliver one.”
Officials at SHI declined to comment on the shipyard’s newbuilding activities, while managers at Evergreen declined to comment on the order and the supply of methanol for the new ships.
One broker thinks Evergreen will pay at least $175m each for the vessels that are able to run on conventional marine fuel or methanol.
“We understand the company is seeking to take delivery of the new boxships between 2026 and 2027,” the broker said.
Evergreen is one of the partners in the Ocean Alliance, which also includes CMA CGM, Cosco and Orient Overseas Container Line, commonly known as OOCL. It is the only company in the alliance that does not operate any dual-fuelled ships or have any dual-fuelled newbuildings under construction.
Evergreen will be the latest company to join the growing crush of owners and liner operators looking to order dual-fuel methanol propulsion vessels if it firms up the newbuildings with SHI and Nihon.
Brokers said more liner companies are opting to order methanol-fuelled tonnage because they cost less to build than those designed for LNG. This is because there is no need for expensive cryogenic bunker tanks and fuel gas-handling systems.
However, the supply of green methanol remains a key issue along with the significant cost of the fuel over comparable low-sulphur fuel oil.
AP Moller-Maersk was the first mover into methanol as a fuel. The Danish giant is due to take delivery of one 2,100-teu feeder boxship from Hyundai Mipo Dockyard. This will be the company’s first carbon-neutral vessel that can run on VLSFO or methanol.
Maersk also has 18 newbuildings of 16,000 teu each under construction at HHI.
Maersk is working with nine methanol producers on the supply of the green fuel.
Morten Bo Christiansen, head of energy transition at AP Moller-Maersk, said there is not enough supply of green methanol to run the company’s own fleet, let alone the roughly 100 dual-fuel methanol container ships that were ordered by other liner organisations.
Maersk has forked out a whopping $2,500 per tonne to procure green methanol for the maiden voyage of the 2,100-teu vessel, which is four times the cost of VLSFO. The feeder boxship will be formally named on 16 September by European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen.
Shipping sources said Evergreen is also looking to work with methanol producers to secure its fuel supply.
Other liner companies that have methanol dual-fuelled container ship newbuildings under construction at shipyards include X-Press Feeders, CMA CGM, HMM, OOCL and Cosco.
