Maersk, the world's largest shipping company, announced on its website on May 26th that "the world's first eco-friendly methanol propulsion ship will be delivered from a Korean shipbuilder in June this year and will have a naming ceremony at its headquarters in Copenhagen in September."
Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, also announced that he would open up the new ships at the docks to the public so that they could learn more about the shipping industry's efforts towards decarbonization. The vessel announced by Musk is a 2100 TEU container ship built by Hyundai Mipo Dockyard, a subsidiary of HD Hyundai Shipbuilding Division, and the launch ceremony was held at Hyundai Mipo Dockyard in Ulsan on April 4th.
This ship is the first to be ordered by HD Hyundai Heavy Industries as part of a pilot project, just before Maersk placed an order for a larger methanol-powered container ship. The latter is expected to start construction in July 2021 and be delivered in September.
In addition to the order for this ship, Musk ordered all 18 eco-friendly methanol ships from HD Hyundai Heavy Industries' subsidiaries. Musk plans to replace 25% of marine cargo with eco-friendly fuel ships by 2030, and domestic shipbuilders that specialize in methanol-fueled eco-friendly ships are expected to play a major role in achieving this goal.
