The vessel, Laura Maresk, is the first of 25 ships ordered by Danish shipping giant Maersk and the first and only 2,100-TEU-capacity feeder ship out of the group. Maersk intends to power the ship’s with zero-emission green methanol. Maersk placed its first methanol-fueled container ship official into service with a naming ceremony in Copenhagen last week.
While it is not the first methanol-fueled ship, it is the first for the container shipping industry and at the forefront of a new era that will see other majors including CMA CGM, COSCO, Evergreen, and OOCL introduce dual-fuel methanol containerships as well as feeder operations including X-Press Feeder.
The name of the ship was confirmed by Ursula von der Leyen, President of the EU Commission who said she was honored to usher in the era of green container shipping. Laura Maersk is a name with significance.
Maersk Moller named his first steamship in 1886 Laura. It was also the name of the first ship to wear the white seven-pointed star on a light blue background which has become the familiar livery of Maersk and its house flag. The name has been used repeatedly at historic moments over the life of the company.
