'Green fuel' supply ship docks in UK

The ship is able to carry about 16,000 standard containers

A container ship which aims to run exclusively on green fuels has docked in the UK.

The vessel called the Alexandra Maersk was officially named at the Port of Felixstowe in Suffolk.

Shipping company Maersk, which owns the ship, said the 350m (1,148 ft) long ship can produce significantly less emissions than traditional fossil fuels when run on sustainably sourced and made green methanol.

Retail giant Primark, which has partnered with Maersk, said the ship was a step towards its own aim to halve carbon emissions by 2030.

The ship's engine can be powered by methanol, a non-persistent chemical that is broken down in the environment.

Using low emission methanol can reduce the greenhouse gas emissions by 65% to 90% compared to conventional fossil fuels such as bunker oil, the company said.

'Game changer'

Chief engineer Morten Wehner said the move to greener fuel was something he felt was necessary for a "better world"

The ship, able to carry more than 16,000 standard containers, is the sixth vessel in Maersk’s fleet able to sail on methanol in its main and auxiliary engines.

With a dual fuel engine, the ship can also run on traditional fossil fuel when methanol cannot be sourced.

Morten Wehner, the ship's chief engineer, said it was a "game changer" as there is nothing coming out of the chimney, compared to plumes of smoke people might associate with ships burning traditional fuel.

"I am very proud. I believe [this is] one of the things we really need to do to leave a better world," he added.

Christian Besa, the ship's captain, said the main issue was the lack of availability of green fuel

Christian Besa, the ship's captain, said the vessel sailed from Gibraltar to Felixstowe exclusively on green fuel.

He said: "The biggest challenge we have is we want to run on green methanol.

"So that’s a big challenge, we’re struggling to get enough but in my opinion when demand is there the suppliers will deliver and in the near future there will be enough green fuel for all of us."

Karsten Kildahl said the company was confident the ship would become "greener and greener" over its lifetime

Karsten Kildahl, chief commercial officer at Maersk, said: "When we started the journey a few years back to find out how we could go from a black fuel, a traditional fossil fuel, to a green fuel there were lots of choices and we landed on methanol as the most likely fuel to be scalable in the near future."

A shift towards greener fuels will hopefully make the ship "greener and greener" over its estimated 25-year lifetime.

Paul Marchant, CEO of Primark, said the partnership with Maersk was "a really important step" towards reducing carbon emissions by half by 2030.