Danish container shipping giant Maersk has uveiled the design of its next-generation large container vessels powered by carbon-neutral methanol.

The company ordered a total of eight 16,000 TEU boxships from South Korean shipbuilder Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) in August this year.

The first green methanol-fueled unit is planned to be delivered to Maersk in 2024.

Once all eight vessels are deployed, they will be able to generate annual CO2 emissions savings of around 1 million tonnes, offering “truly carbon neutral” transportation at scale on the high seas.

The vessels will be 350 meters long, 53.5 meters wide.

New solutions

To enable this new design, several challenges had to be addressed. Firstly, crew comfort had to be ensured with the accommodation placed in this more exposed location.

Moreover, adequate hull strength was also a key parameter to safeguard, with the accommodation block normally working as a hull “stiffener” when placed further backwards.

New arrangements for lifeboats and navigational lights had to be developed, plus new cameras to support the captain’s view when navigating.

Source: Offshore-Energy.biz