ZDS: Ane Maersk’s maiden call to Hamburg presentations pressing need for future-proofing German ports

Following the maiden call of Ane Maersk, the ‘world’s first’ beautiful methanol-powered containership, in Hamburg, the Affiliation of German Seaport Operators (ZDS) has highlighted the need for essential investments in the country’s ports to be sure a successful vitality transition in Germany.

The 16,000 TEU containership docked on the Eurogate Container Terminal Hamburg in the morning hours of March 28, 2024, for the first time, the Port of Hamburg acknowledged.

Owned by Danish transport large Maersk, Ane Maersk is the first of Maersk’s eighteen beautiful methanol-enabled vessels scheduled for provide between 2024 and 2025. It’s the sphere’s second methanol-enabled container vessel.

The boxship is for the time being on its maiden voyage from Asia to Europe, starting from the Port of Colombo to Felixstowe, Hamburg, Antwerp, London, Le Havre, and befriend to Asia. Closing week, the 350-meter-lengthy ship also made its inaugural call at Tanger Med Port Complex in Morocco.

Ane Maersk has change into the first containership to come in the Port of Hamburg that runs on climate-friendly methanol.

“The call of the Ane Maersk in the port of Hamburg impressively demonstrates that the maritime swap is making speedy strides in direction of climate neutrality. This also entails the Port of Hamburg, which will be working intensively on turning into climate neutral,” Axel Mattern, Board Member for Port of Hamburg Marketing, pointed out.

Namely, Ane Maersk has a brand new ship originate with the bridge superstructure on the very front of the bow. This turn into essential to catch up on the cargo bother misplaced as a result of elevated tanks required. Methanol handiest has round half as grand vitality articulate material as fossil oil. Due to this truth, roughly twice as grand gas is required. 

The boxship for the time being runs on green bio-methanol and subsequently emits round two thirds much less greenhouse gases than with fossil gas. With synthetically produced e-methanol, emissions savings can even be well over 90% one day.

As a result of diminutive availability of green methanol worldwide, Ane Maersk and its sister ships may maybe also also scuttle on bio-diesel or ultra low sulfur gas oil (ULSFO) due to twin-gas expertise.

Such alternative fuels-enabled ships depend on the ports having the essential infrastructure and ample quantities of gas.

The National Port Intention, which the German authorities adopted closing week to make ports match for the future, describes the ports as ‘pioneers of climate-neutral transport’.

Infrastructure operators are required to create storage and bunkering capacities for alternative fuels at an early stage. The federal and verbalize governments may maybe also just mute make obvious uniform nationwide framework prerequisites for going by new kinds of gas, according to ZDS.

“With out ample funding in German ports, there may be no propulsion transition in transport and no vitality transition in Germany,” Angela Titzrath, President of ZDS, commented in connection with the first call of the methanol freighter Ane Maersk.

“Ane Maersk presentations that we now wish to enforce the National Port Intention posthaste.”

“The National Port Intention envisages market leadership for German ports in applied sciences for transport, handling, storage and bunkering of sustainable vitality sources and renewable fuels,” Titzrath added.

“At the same time, we now wish to equip the ports all over Germany for the vitality transition, make obvious security of provide in the country and handle beautiful parts of German overseas swap. All of this as efficiently and digitally as that which that you simply can also imagine. These whole projects require a joint effort, which requires more federal crimson meat up.”

As a lot as now, on the other hand, there has been no federal and verbalize funding opinion for upgrading the port infrastructure to prepare German seaports for the vitality transition and ships just like the Ane Maersk. The shortage of financial sources is creating an funding backlog, which, to boot to the climate-neutral transformation of transport, also endangers the vitality transition in Germany.

On one hand, vitality sources comparable to LNG, methanol or hydrogen are imported by the ports, and on the opposite hand, parts for offshore wind farms are shipped. Each are handiest that which that you simply can also imagine if port products and companies and hinterland connections are tailored, guidelines and approval procedures are optimized and beautiful-potential and heavy-accountability transport are made less complicated.

“In some unspecified time in the future of the 2022/2023 vitality disaster, LNG terminals were authorized and the corresponding infrastructure in ports and hinterland turn into achieved at a file tempo. The success of the vitality transition in Germany and the transformation to climate-friendly transport requires the same level of political will to make choices, accompanied by ample financial sources as a plot to enforce the essential expansion and conversion initiatives,” ZDS President concluded.