Hapag-Lloyd and Seaspan Corporation have completed the first conversion in a five-ship methanol retrofit programme, with the 10,100-TEU Seaspan Yangtze upgraded from a conventional MAN S90 engine to a dual-fuel engine capable of using methanol, according to Hapag-Lloyd.
The ship is the first of five charter vessels covered by the programme. The remaining vessels are Seaspan Amazon, Seaspan Ganges, Seaspan Thames and Seaspan Zambezi. The total investment for the five retrofits is estimated at around $120m.
“Retrofitting existing vessels is an important lever on our way to decarbonize our fleet operations by 2045,” said Silke Lehmköster, managing director fleet at Hapag-Lloyd. “The successful conversion of the Seaspan Yangtze shows that technical innovation and close cooperation with strong partners can make proven vessels ready for the use of low-carbon fuels. For our customers, this is another concrete step towards more sustainable supply chains.”
Each conversion can reduce CO2e emissions by about 30,000 to 50,000 metric tons per vessel per year when operating on low-carbon methanol. Hapag-Lloyd said the project also extends the operational life of existing ships and increases fuel flexibility.
The conversion forms part of the company’s sustainability strategy, which includes newbuildings, dual-fuel retrofits, efficiency gains in the existing fleet and sourcing alternative fuels.
Hapag-Lloyd AG is a German liner shipping and terminal infrastructure company. Its liner shipping business operates 302 container ships with total transport capacity of 2.5m TEU, supported by 15,200 employees and 400 offices in 140 countries. It has container capacity of 3.7m TEU and runs 133 liner services connecting 600 ports worldwide.
Seaspan Corporation is a maritime asset ownership and management company. In this programme, it is the vessel owner-side partner for the charter ships being converted to methanol-capable dual-fuel operation.