19 September 2023 (Lloyd's List) - CONTAINER giants Maersk and CMA CGM are teaming up in a bid to accelerate and scale decarbonisation efforts.
While the loose co-operation agreement does not come with any immediate investment detail or specific projects, the agreement to collaborate on the development of methanol and ammonia marks a significant pooling of efforts from two of the industry’s frontrunners in ordering dual-fuel vessels.
The collaboration agreement, which both companies insist is open to other companies to join, will see the two lines develop sustainable fuel standards, but also combine efforts to accelerate the mass production of green methane and green methanol.
Maersk last week announced that, together with its parent AP Moller Holding, they had set up a new company to produce green methanol in an attempt to increase supply. The start-up, to be called C2X, is looking at green methanol projects close to the Suez Canal in Egypt, the port of Huelva in Spain, and the US, India, and Australia.
While Equinor, the Norwegian state-controlled oil and gas major, will supply Maersk with green methanol to fuel the first of its new methanol dual-fuelled ships launched last week, a supply crunch is looming for the influx of methanol-capable vessels on order and due to start hitting the water from next year.
C2X will not produce enough green methanol for Maersk’s own demand — estimated to be up to 5m tonnes by 2030 — but will aim to supply the chemical industry with a fossil fuel-free alternative and potentially other shipping companies.
CMA CGM assets and operations executive vice president Christine Cabau Woehrel said the French line is almost ready to confirm where it will source the supply of green methanol it needs to fuel its own dual-fuelled ships, due to be delivered from 2025.
However, Cabau Woehrel said it was not likely that CMA CGM would source fuel from Maersk initially.
The mass-balanced methanol Maersk is using on the maiden voyage of its new 2,100-teu Laura Maersk (IMO: 9944546) has a certified life cycle greenhouse gas reduction compared with conventional fossil fuels of 65%. Cabau Woehrel confirmed that CMA CGM would be “looking in the same ballpark” for their own fuel supplies.
While the immediate focus for both companies will be on securing sufficient green biofuel supplies, both companies expect the future fuel mix of shipping will include other streams that need to be rapidly developed.
While Cabau Woehrel said both companies share an optimism over the development of ammonia as a viable and sustainable zero-carbon fuel for the future, the collaboration agreement is in part a bid to accelerate the research and development required to scale projects.
“Maersk wants to accelerate the green transition in shipping and logistics and to do so, we need strong involvement from partners across the industry,” said Maersk chief executive officer Vincent Clerc.
CMA CGM chief executive Rodolphe Saadé added: “This partnership is a milestone for the decarbonisation of our industry.”
The agreement also sees Maersk and CMA CGM teaming up on regulatory efforts to help “establish a robust and sustainable international regulatory GHG framework”. Here, the new team approach is open to other companies, which they are encouraging to join their direct lobbying strategy.
According to Cabau Woehrel this is not about circumventing existing industry representation efforts at a regulatory level, but both companies felt that “a direct conversation with regulators” was now necessary.
“CMA CGM and Maersk affirm their readiness to collaboratively engage with regulatory stakeholders in establishing a robust and sustainable international regulatory GHG framework and invite other international shipping lines who so wish to join them in this co-operation with the regulatory institutions,” explained a joint statement on Tuesday.
“Such a framework is in both our companies’ perspective a prerequisite to reducing carbon emissions for the shipping industry and securing a level-playing field for a global business environment.”
