- OCI Global is fueling the first ever green methanol powered container vessel in a pioneering partnership with A.P. Moller – Maersk
- OCI is the world leader in green methanol through its OCI HyFuels brand, pioneering its use as a renewable and low carbon hydrogen fuel
- This global maiden voyage is an important milestone in the decarbonization of the maritime industry, providing proof-of-concept for green methanol as a safe, efficient, commercially ready fuel for global shipping
- Incremental methanol demand from the maritime sector is expected to be upwards of 4 million tonnes per annum by the mid-2020’s based on current orders for new vessels
OCI Global (Euronext: OCI) has announced it is fueling the first ever green methanol-powered container ship in a new partnership with A.P. Moller-Maersk. OCI will provide ISCC certified green biomethanol to power the maiden voyage of Maersk’s first dual-fueled container ship, in a pioneering step towards the decarbonization of global shipping.
The journey demonstrates OCI’s unique capacity to supply marine customers with end-to-end green methanol solutions in major global bunkering locations, and further supports green methanol as the leading choice today for decarbonizing the marine sector, which is responsible for 3% of global GHG emissions.
The vessel leaves South Korea for its maiden voyage this summer, sailing along one of the world’s busiest shipping routes to Northern Europe via the Suez Canal, bunkering at several major ports along its journey. OCI is obtaining the approvals and permits required to commercially bunker methanol in several ports on the ship’s voyage, including Port of Rotterdam, positioning OCI as the first commercial bunker operator of methanol in these regions.
Ready for marine
This voyage is an important milestone in the expansion of OCI’s renewable and low-carbon fuels business, a key pillar of OCI’s sustainable growth strategy. As the maritime industry navigates increased regulation to accelerate decarbonization, such as the FuelEU Maritime initiative, OCI anticipates incremental global demand for methanol at 4 million tons per year in the next five years, based on current orders from the marine sector.
OCI is focused on being the last mile operator of choice at strategic bunkering ports, leveraging partnerships with relevant authorities and certification bodies, terminal infrastructure partners, and bunker barge operators. In February, OCI announced its project with Unibarge to retrofit the first methanol powered bunker barge, to be deployed at the Port of Rotterdam.
Leading the way on hydrogen fuels
Through its OCI HyFuels brand, OCI is the largest green methanol producer globally. It has led the development of green methanol application in vehicle fuels, now placing up to 200,000 tons per annum equivalent and is growing its suite of low-carbon and green methanol products, including biomethanol, e-methanol, recycled carbon fuel (RCF) methanol, renewable natural gas, ethanol and bio-MTBE.
In anticipation of expected demand for renewable and low carbon ammonia and methanol, OCI has announced several major projects to significantly increase sustainable production of its two core products. These include GasifHy, the gasification project at its existing European methanol facility to shift it to green methanol production; a 1.1mtpa blue ammonia plant in Texas, USA, scheduled to start production in 2025 and its Egypt Green ammonia facility through Fertiglobe (a strategic partnership between OCI and ADNOC), where the first tons of green ammonia from electrolysis were produced earlier this year.
Ahmed El-Hoshy, CEO at OCI Global, said:
“I’m delighted that we are partnering with Maersk to power the first ever green methanol voyage with OCI HyFuels green methanol. This marks another significant milestone in our global leadership in supplying and trading renewable and low carbon fuels to decarbonize energy-intensive industries. We also appreciate the collaboration and leadership of our partners at each of the ports to facilitate this journey. With the maritime industry facing increasing regulatory scrutiny, its decarbonization is urgent, and OCI is playing a crucial role in helping the sector meet its environmental goals through our existing methanol capabilities; helping us build our position in the marine and fuels markets to capitalize on the coming ammonia fuel demand.”
Bashir Lebada, CEO of OCI Methanol/HyFuels:
“We are excited about this new phase of our methanol business. Marine has been the main buzz around methanol for several years, so to secure the first real green sale and voyage is testament to our team’s hard work and further reinforces OCI HyFuels as the only large-scale green methanol solution for road and bunker. We welcome our partnership with Maersk and their leadership in decarbonizing the maritime sector; their early focus on methanol and conviction to order vessels has led us to where we are today. This also highlights our distribution system and last mile capabilities where we will continue to leverage our road fuel logistics and fuel blending system, and add to our green bunker barge fleet as demand grows.”
Emma Mazhari, Head of Energy Markets at A.P. Moller – Maersk, said:
“We would like to thank OCI Global for showing great leadership and for a good collaboration on fueling the maiden voyage for our landmark vessel. We are grateful for the way OCI Global has committed to help A.P. Moller – Maersk deliver valuable services to our customers. Together, as trusted partners, we are driving a much-needed transition in a heavy-pollution industry. Because of the work by companies like OCI Global, that transition can hopefully be accelerated in the years to come”
