ONE puts in order for 10 ammonia- and methanol-ready vessels

Ocean Network Express (ONE) has put in an order for 10 alternative fuels-ready container ships as part of its mid-term decarbonisation efforts.

PHOTO: The ONE HUMBER towed by a tugboat approaching and the Port of Southampton in March. ONE

The vessels will be ammonia- and methanol-ready, and equipped with systems to capture and store carbon when they run on carbon-based fuels.

The 10 orders are equally split between Japanese shipyards Hyundai Heavy Industries and Nihon Shipyard. They will all have 13,700 TEU capacity and be delivered by 2025.

ONE projects that over half of its $20 billion investment towards 2030 will be spent on upgrading its fleet in line with its mid-term decarbonisation strategy of reducing Scope 1 greenhouse gas emissions by 70% by 2030, with 2008 as a baseline year.

Scope 1 emissions are direct emissions from owned or controlled sources, including bunker fuel emissions.

The 10 vessels will be used by ONE to tests ammonia methanol as fuels with zero-emission potential, as well as carbon capture and storage systems to curb emissions when not running on these fuels, before it makes investment decisions towards its net zero by 2050 goal, which covers 2 and 3 emissions in addition to Scope 1.

Scope 2 emissions are indirect emission from energy purchased or used by a company such as electricity and heat. Scope 3 emissions include indirect emissions from the business activities of the company.

ONE has also made a series of test voyages with bio-bunkers. One of its container ships trialled a bio-VLSFO blend on a roundtrip voyage between Singapore, Durban and Cape Town earlier this year. The trail was with bio-bunkers as a drop-in fuel and did not require any engine modifications.

This followed previous bio-bunker trials on several voyages across the Atlantic Ocean after bunkering in Rotterdam in November 2020.