The Danish container shipping giant Maersk has completed the conversion of the containership Maersk Halifax into a dual-fuel vessel able to operate on methanol.
The retrofit operation took 88 days at China’s Zhoushan Xinya Shipyard and was completed at the end of October.
Leonardo Sonzio, head of fleet management and technology at Maersk, said: “Following the completion of the sea-trials, Maersk Halifax has returned to operation and is now servicing our customers on the Trans-Pacific trade.”
The engine conversion has been done by MAN Energy Solutions. Aside from replacing machine parts and making the engine able to operate on methanol, the retrofit operation at the yard has involved adding new fuel tanks, fuel preparation room and fuel supply system.
The hull has also been expanded to accommodate the fuel tanks. With this alteration, the ship’s length was extended by 15 meters to 368 meters, boosting its capacity from around 15,000 to 15,690 TEU.
Sonzio added: “Since we set the ambitious climate goal of reaching net zero emissions by 2040, we have explored the potential in retrofitting existing vessels with dual-fuel engines. In the coming year, we will take learnings from this first conversion of a large vessel.
“Retrofits of existing vessels can be an important alternative to newbuilds in our transition from fossil fuels to low-emission fuels.”
Maersk Halifax, which is one of 11 vessels in Maersk’s Hong Kong-class, departed anchorage at the yard on November 4.
