Maersk explores ethanol as a key part of its green shipping strategy amid industry shift

Vincent Clerc, chief executive of A.P. Moller‑Maersk, has told the Financial Times that the company is exploring ethanol as a green marine fuel in a move that could both diversify the global supply chain and advance decarbonisation of container shipping. Clerc said the United States and Brazil are the leading producers of ethanol and argued that spreading the economic benefits of a low‑carbon transition beyond a single market would help secure broader international support for new fuel pathways.

Maersk’s interest in ethanol follows a series of fuel experiments and supply deals as the company adapts its fleet strategy to meet stringent emissions targets. In October 2025 Maersk began testing a 10% blend of Brazilian ethanol mixed with methanol and marine diesel in vessel engines, a trial intended to assess operational performance and open potential markets for Brazilian producers. Company modelling suggests such a shift could create very large demand: a 10% ethanol blend across deep‑sea container trades could imply global demand on the order of tens of billions of litres annually, while Brazil’s production this year was forecast at roughly 35 billion litres. According to Maersk, the tests form part of broader work to identify scalable, costed routes away from heavy fuel oil.

The shipping sector’s transition is complex and capital‑intensive. Existing vessels require expensive retrofits to run alternative fuels and many shipowners are placing orders for new dual‑fuel designs. Maersk has pursued multiple fuel options in parallel. In October 2024 it signed a long‑term bio‑methanol offtake with LONGi Green Energy Technology for supply from a facility in central China to feed its growing fleet of dual‑fuel methanol ships. The group also has secured early supplies through partnerships such as an agreement with Equinor for green methanol bunkering in Rotterdam and a memorandum of understanding with Shanghai International Port Group to develop green methanol bunkering infrastructure in China.

At the same time, new commercial‑scale e‑methanol production is emerging in Europe. In May 2025 the world’s first commercial e‑methanol plant began operations in Denmark; the Kasso facility will produce about 42,000 tonnes a year, a volume Maersk has said it will purchase in part to fuel its methanol‑capable vessels. Industry data shows that the plant’s annual output would be sufficient to power a single very large container ship on the Asia‑Europe route, highlighting the scale gap between current clean‑fuel production and the needs of global liner trades.

The debate over geographic concentration of supply underpins Clerc’s comments to the Financial Times. He warned that if benefits and jobs from new fuel value chains were concentrated in one country, some governments might resist, whereas a more evenly distributed supply base would attract wider political backing. That argument has found resonance across sectors: in September 2025 a new Global Ethanol Association launched from Switzerland with a Marine Fuel Sector Initiative aimed at marshalling cross‑industry support and investment to convert ethanol’s potential into commercial marine demand.

Competition among fuel options persists. Late last year Hapag‑Lloyd and North Sea Container Line won a tender to use low‑emission hydrogen‑derived fuels on container ships from 2027 under a three‑year contract, underscoring that shipowners are testing several pathways simultaneously. Industry analysts say no single fuel is likely to dominate in the near term; instead a mix of biofuels, e‑fuels and hydrogen‑derived products will be needed to decarbonise different ship types and trades.

For shipowners and charterers, the immediacy of regulatory pressure and the economics of fuel supply and retrofit investments will shape which options scale. Maersk’s multi‑pronged approach , from methanol offtakes and e‑methanol purchases to ethanol blending trials , reflects an attempt to keep strategic flexibility while helping to build alternative supply chains beyond incumbent hubs. According to the Financial Times interview, Clerc sees that diversification as central both to reducing Maersk’s exposure to particular suppliers and to building the political coalition necessary for a global green shipping transition.