Container ship ‘Maersk Halifax’, one of 11 vessels in Maersk’s Hong Kong-class, has been converted into a dual-fuel vessel able to operate on methanol.
The retrofit operation was conducted at the Zhoushan Xinya Shipyard in China, taking a total of 88 days. Following the completion of the sea-trials, Maersk Halifax has returned to operation and is now servicing the Trans-Pacific trade.
The engine conversion was carried out by by MAN Energy Solutions. Besides replacing machine parts and thereby making the engine able to operate on methanol, the retrofit operation involved adding new fuel tanks, fuel preparation room and fuel supply system In order to accommodate the fuel tanks, the hull was extended, increasing the length of the ship by 15m to 368m, and increasing capacity from around 15,000 to 15,690 TEU.
Leonardo Sonzio, Head of Fleet Management and Technology, Maersk said: “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.”
Image: ‘Maersk Halifax’, now lengthened and converted to methanol operation (source: Maersk)
