by Lloyd's List
22 May 2025 (Lloyd's List) - THE world’s third-largest container line operator, CMA CGM, remains the leader when it comes to the ordering of alternative-fuel containerships.
The French carrier has contracted 168 newbuildings since 2017 capable of utilising either liquefied natural gas or methanol fuel.
Some 70 of these vessels have entered service, with the remainder set for delivery up to 2028. CMA CGM accounts for 25% of all dual-fuel containerships ordered to date.
While CMA CGM leads the pack, the world’s largest container line operator, Mediterranean Shipping Co, is second placed, with second-largest carrier Maersk following.
They have shares of 23% and 12%, respectively, of all alternative-fuel containerships ordered.
MSC has taken delivery of 52 alternative-fuel capable containerships and has 103 vessels on order. All of MSC’s dual-fuel ships are for operation on LNG.
Dual-fuel methanol containership pioneer Maersk has taken delivery of 13 such vessels since 2023 and has a further 17 methanol-capable containerships on order.
Concerns around short to medium-term methanol fuel supply saw Maersk order its first LNG dual-fuel boxships last year.
CMA CGM was the first major containership operator to order dual-fuel boxships in 2017.
The lead vessel from this order of nine 23,000 teu, LNG dual-fuel containerships entered service in 2020 and was named CMA CGM Jacques Saade (IMO: 9839179) after the carrier’s founder.
Of CMA CGM’s dual-fuel vessel orders, 32 were contracted (in 2022 and 2023) to methanol dual-fuel specification.
The first of the methanol-capable boxships, the 13,000 teu CMA CGM Iron (IMO: 9996678), was delivered from South Korea’s HD Hyundai Samho in March.
Two existing conventional-fuel CMA CGM containerships are booked to be converted to dual-fuel methanol propulsion at a Chinese shipyard later this year.
Since CMA CGM penned the first newbuilding contracts for dual-fuel containerships, all of the premier container line operators have followed suit.
But orders for methanol dual-fuel containerships have tailed off since 2023, with a surge in the ordering of LNG dual-fuel containerships from the second quarter of 2024.
Data tracked by Lloyd’s List shows that of the 120 containerships ordered since the beginning of 2025, more than half were of LNG dual-fuel specification.
Only 25 vessels were ordered for methanol dual-fuel operations, while 33 ships were contracted as conventional-fuel ships, with most expected to be scrubber-fitted.
Gas propulsion still appears to be the best short- and medium-term solution for the container line operators’ path to decarbonisation.
However, several of them now appear to be following multi-fuel pathways by ordering a mix of LNG dual-fuel vessels (which can also increasingly utilise bio-methane as supply ramps up) or methanol-fuel capable containerships.
The latter is still considered to be the best alternative fuel in the long term by several container line operators.
