Maersk Retrofits First Large Container Ship to Methanol

The container ship Maersk Halifax has been converted into a dual-fuel vessel able to operate on methanol. The industry-first retrofit for a large container ship was conducted at the Zhoushan Xinya Shipyard in China over 88 days with completion at the end of October 2024.

Maersk Halifax, which is one of 11 vessels in Maersk’s Hong Kong-class, departed anchorage at the yard on 4 November 2024.

The vessel has returned to operation and is now servicing our customers on the Trans-Pacific trade.

The engine conversion was done by MAN Energy Solutions. Besides replacing machine parts and thereby 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 change, the length of the ship was extended by 15 meters to 368 meters, increasing the capacity from around 15,000 to 15,690 TEU.