Port of Koper welcomes green methanol-enabled boxship Astrid Maersk

A.P. Moller – Maersk’s second large vessel that can run on green methanol Astrid Maersk has arrived in Koper, Slovenia, for the first time and was welcomed in the Port of Koper. 

Operating on the AE12 string which connects Asia and Europe, Astrid Maersk arrived at the Slovene port on June 16, 2024, from Port Said in Egypt before continuing its journey towards Trieste (Italy), Tangier (Morocco) and Singapore.

Equipped with a dual-fuel engine that is capable of running on green methanol, Astrid Maersk is the second of eighteen large vessels ordered by Maersk that will be added to Maersk’s fleet during 2024 and 2025.

The ship was named during a ceremony held in April this year. The container vessel was built by South Korean shipbuilder Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) and has a nominal capacity of 16,000 containers (TEU).

Astrid Maersk comes after its sister unit, Ane Maersk, launched earlier this year and underscores Maersk’s ambition to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2040.

According to Maersk, the vessels in the new series have an industry-first innovative design with the bridge and accommodation placed at the very front of the vessel, allowing more cargo to be carried and reducing the consumption per container.

By the end of this decade, Maersk anticipates that 25 of their vessels will be sailing on green methanol, saving 2.75 million tons of CO2 emissions annually.

“The launch of this class of vessels is a key milestone for Maersk in our journey to decarbonise ocean transportation. Astrid Maersk, together with her sister vessels, enbodies our ambitions in the areas of sustainability and innovation. But this decarbonisation journey requires collaboration from the entire ecosystem, including customers, partners, regulators and all other stakeholders and Port of Koper is one of our key partners,” Ivić Vodopija, Country Manager for East Adriatic and Central Europe at Maersk said.

The Port of Koper is a multipurpose port, that handles all types of cargo. The total throughput of the port in 2023 was 22.3 million tons, including 1,066 million TEUs and 916.728 units of vehicles, making Koper the largest container terminal in Adriatic and one of the most important car terminals in Europe.