Hapag-Lloyd to retrofit five containerships to methanol propulsion

The ocean freight carrier Hapag-Lloyd today announced a $120 million plan to retrofit five vessels to methanol propulsion, replacing their conventional diesel engines in a move towards achieving its decarbonization goal by 2045.

Hapag-Lloyd will work with Seaspan Corp. to retrofit and convert five 10,100 TEU (twenty-foot equivalent unit) container ships that are currently powered by conventional MAN S90 engines to dual-fuel engines also capable of operating on methanol. Following the engine retrofit, the vessels will continue to be on long-term charter from Seaspan to Hapag-Lloyd. 

Seaspan is a maritime asset management and ownership company, with an operating fleet of 153 vessels and an additional 36 vessels under construction.

The retrofit is expected to take approximately 80-90 days per vessel starting in the first quarter of 2026 and will include the “Seaspan Amazon”, “Seaspan Ganges”, “Seaspan Thames”, “Seaspan Yangtze” and “Seaspan Zambezi.” Those vessels are members of Hapag-Lloyd’s total fleet of 266 modern container ships with a combined transport capacity of 2.0 million TEU. 

“The methanol retrofit project is a further step in our ambitious sustainability agenda, which aims to achieve the decarbonisation of the entire fleet by 2045. By enabling these vessels to use green methanol as of 2026, we will meet our customers’ growing demand for green transportation solutions,” Maximilan Rothkopf, Hapag-Lloyd’s COO, said in a release.

The Dutch maritime carrier specifically plans to use green methanol for the new engines, since it has identified that material as “one of the low emission fuels of the future.” To achieve its strategic decarbonization goal, Hapag-Lloyd’s decarbonization investments are focused on the exploration and sourcing of green fuels, as well as new-builds or retrofits (dual-fuel propulsion) and optimizing the efficiency of its existing fleet (Fleet Upgrade Program).