Maersk Halifax Completes World's Largest Ethanol Bunkering Operation

Maersk announced the successful completion of the largest ethanol bunkering operation carried out to date, performed in Singapore on the Maersk Halifax, the first vessel in the carrier's fleet to be converted to a dual-fuel propulsion system. The vessel received approximately 5,000 metric tonnes of ISCC-certified bioethanol, in an operation carried out in collaboration with the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) and other players in the supply chain.

The bunkering was carried out by Golden Island, whose Type II chemical tanker Golden Centaurus supplied the ethanol to the Maersk Halifax while it was handling containers in port, using a mass flow meter (MFM) to monitor the cargo. According to the MPA, this was the largest volume of ethanol delivered in a single bunkering operation, almost double the 2,800 tonnes of bioethanol that Repsol had supplied to the Antonia Maersk in Barcelona in July.

The MPA stated that the operation will provide data and lessons learned to assess how Singapore's existing methanol bunkering standards could be adapted for ethanol, and whether current MFM systems can be used in future operations of this kind. Before the bunkering took place, the companies involved held a safety workshop in which they applied their experience in methanol bunkering to train the crew in handling ethanol and responding to emergencies.

Emma Mazhari, Head of Energy Markets at Maersk, said that the energy transition requires exploring and scaling up solutions with real impact, and stressed that the company maintains a multi-fuel strategy because no single alternative can decarbonize global shipping on its own. The executive recalled that during this year Maersk also carried out ethanol trials on the dual-fuel vessels Laura Maersk, Antonia Maersk and Tangier Maersk.

According to Maersk, ethanol is emerging as a promising transition fuel due to its global availability, already established production and distribution networks, and its compatibility with alcohol-enabled engine technologies. The company noted that, when certified and sourced from low-carbon pathways, ethanol can offer significant greenhouse gas reductions compared to conventional marine fuels, although its potential depends on the feedstocks and processes used to produce it.