MAN PrimeServ colleagues successfully converted the engine of a 15,000-TEU container ship to run on methanol at a shipyard in China.

MAN PrimeServ is at home with world firsts. In 2017, colleagues converted the ‘Wes Amelie’ to run on liquefied natural gas, the first time this had been done anywhere in the world. In 2020, the same vessel, now renamed the ‘ElbBLUE’, became the first ship to bunker synthetic natural gas (SNG) as it prepared for a voyage through the Baltic. And in late October 2024, the ‘Maersk Halifax’ became the first container ship in the world to go on a long voyage with a retrofitted methanol dual-fuel engine. The ship was officially inaugurated at a ceremony in the Asia ­Pacific Dockyard in Zhoushan, China, attended by high-ranking representatives of the shipping company, the shipyard and, of course, MAN Energy Solutions. For Sarath Prasannan, Head of Region Asia Pacific, this accomplishment is a technological triumph: “This groundbreaking project marks a pivotal moment in the shipping industry’s journey towards decarbonisation. We hope that China’s policies and infrastructure will continue to foster an environment where shipyards can carry forward this commendable work.”

Pioneering work in the use of methanol

Shipping company A. P. Moller Maersk is sensible of its role as a global leader in shipping and logistics, and has already placed a preorder for MAN PrimeServ to convert an additional ten vessels to methanol operation. Michael Petersen, Head of PrimeServ Denmark, praised the project collaboration with Maersk and Asia Pacific: “This is enabling shipowners to drastically reduce CO2 emissions without having to commission newbuilds. At PrimeServ, we estimate that more than 4,000 existing marine engines have the potential to be converted to operation on green fuels like e-methanol and e-methane.”