Danish shipping giant Maersk has started onboard fuel trials of a methanol-ethanol blend as part of its efforts to explore alternative fuel use for decarbonising global shipping.

The company’s 2,100 teu methanol-fuelled containership Laura Maersk, which became the world’s first container vessel to operate on green methanol in 2023, is now serving as a test lab to trial the E10 blend of fuel.

The trial of E10 sees 10% of ethanol mixed with 90% of methanol, which is used as fuel for the vessel.

The use of this mix, or e-methanol as it is otherwise known, is to evaluate how ethanol performs in dual-fuel marine engines and assess its potential for use in Maersk’s future fuel mix.

The company is also monitoring operational parameters such as ignition quality, combustion behaviour, lubricity, and NOx emissions, as well as any other differences between standard methanol and the E10 blend.

According to Peter Normark Sørensen, the senior fuel transition manager at Maersk, the reason for blending it is to enlarge the availability and the sourcing pool for dual-fuel vessels.

The E10 delivered to the vessel will last around one to one and a half months. After that, the company will decide how to proceed to the next stage of testing.

The Laura Maersk, according to Sørensen, is practical for small-scale tests, which can then be done on other dual-fuel vessels in the fleet.