Maersk has bunkered its large dual-fuel vessel Antonia Maersk with 100% ethanol at the APM Terminals container facility in Barcelona, the Danish shipping company confirmed in a LinkedIn post.

The bunkering, which took place on 9 July, follows earlier ethanol trials conducted on Laura Maersk, a smaller vessel in the Maersk fleet that had previously been used to test the fuel. According to the ocean carrier, the latest operation represents a scale-up of those earlier efforts.

Maersk noted that it is drawing on its experience with methanol to work with port authorities and partners to establish the infrastructure and operational procedures required to support ethanol bunkering at key ports.

Maersk added: "Ethanol is one of several pathways we are exploring to diversify our low-emission fuel portfolio, with the ambition of enabling rapid uptake and helping create a new liquid marine fuel market. Realising this ambition will require both continued investment across the value chain and the development of supportive regulatory frameworks,"

Ethanol joins methanol as an alternative fuel being actively tested by Maersk as the shipping industry faces growing pressure to decarbonise. Unlike methanol, ethanol has seen relatively limited adoption in the marine sector to date, and the regulatory and bunkering infrastructure to support its widespread use remains in its early stages.

Earlier this week, supplier Bunker One said it had carried out Latin America’s first bioethanol bunkering operation for an ocean-going vessel, with the delivery of 500,000 litres of anhydrous ethanol to a CMA CGM container ship at the Port of Santos, Brazil.