Hapag-Lloyd is a major charterer of Seaspan-owned
ships.
The five 10,000 TEU
containerships, currently powered by conventional S90 engines, will be
retrofitted to dual-fuel engines. After the retrofit, they will be chartered to
Hapag-Lloyd on a long-term basis.
MAN Energy Solutions
is set to perform the retrofits. Each conversion could result in a CO2
reduction of 50,000 to 70,000 tonnes annually when operating on green methanol.
Seaspan said the retrofitting constitutes “a
necessary and major component of emissions abatement” and is “an effective way to extend the operational
lifetime of the existing fleet while delivering fuel flexibility to customers.”
“Retrofitting existing
vessels is a critical lever in global decarbonization efforts. Not only do we
transition to greener fuels, but we save the additional resources needed to
build new vessels,” said Torsten Holst Pedersen, Chief Operating Officer of
Seaspan. “This agreement is another testament to Seaspan’s commitment to
identifying creative solutions with our partners and to ensure we optimize our
existing active vessels while we continue to expand our fleet for the future.”
The vessels due for retrofits are the Seaspan
Amazon, Seaspan Ganges, Seaspan Thames, Seaspan
Yangtze, and Seaspan Zambezi.
As of the end of 2023,
Seaspan’s operating fleet comprised 153 vessels, with 36 more under
construction, scheduled for delivery by December 2024. This will increase the total fleet capacity to approximately 1.9
million TEU.