Integrated container logistics firm AP Moller-Maersk has signed a contract with Hyundai Mipo Dockyards for the construction of the world’s first methanol-fuelled feeder vessel.

The 172m-long vessel will operate under the Danish flag and be classified by the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS).

It will feature dual engine technology, helping it to run using methanol or very low Sulphur fuel.

The 2,100 twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEU) feeder vessel is expected to be delivered by mid-2023.

It will provide services in the network of Maersk subsidiary Sealand Europe, sailing on the Baltic shipping course between the Bay of Bothnia and Northern Europe.

The vessel’s methanol propulsion configuration will be developed by MAN Energy Solutions, Hyundai Engine and Machinery and Himsen.

AP Moller-Maersk fleet and strategic brands CEO Henriette Hallberg Thygesen said: “This groundbreaking container vessel shows that scalable solutions to properly solve shipping’s emissions challenge are available already today.

“From 2023 it will give us valuable experience in operating the container vessels of the future while offering a truly carbon neutral product for our many customers who look to us for help to decarbonise their supply chains.”