Swiss marine power company WinGD will supply X‑DF‑M methanol-fuelled engines for a series of six container vessels to be built at Yangzijiang Shipbuilding in China. The 9,000 TEU vessels will each be powered by an X82DF‑M engine built by HD Hyundai Heavy Industries’ Engine & Machinery Division (HHI-EMD), to be delivered in August 2025.
It is reported that the above six containerships are ordered by Danish shipping giant Maersk, which is the first methanol-powered containership order taken by Yangzijiang Shipbuilding Group, and the first time that Maersk has placed an order for methanol-powered vessels with a Chinese shipyard. Delivery of the new vessels will start in 2026 and the last one is expected to be delivered in March 2027.
According to Maersk’s long-term planning deployment, all vessels are equipped with dual-fuel engines, capable of sailing on both fuel oil and methanol, and will be delivered to replace the existing capacity of Maersk’s fleet. The new vessels, which will replace similarly sized vessels, will reduce Maersk’s carbon dioxide emissions by approximately 450,000 tons per year when operating on green methanol fuel, which is considered on a fuel life cycle basis.
The new order, which includes options for further engines, expands WinGD’s methanol engine orders into the 82-bore size. As announced previously, early interest in the X92DF‑M resulted in an order for four engines to power ultra-large container vessels being built for COSCO SHIPPING LINE.
Volkmar Galke, Director Sales, WinGD, said: “This order confirms that our X‑DF‑M engines will be in service long before green methanol is widely available and before regulatory requirements come into force, giving operators time to build experience with the new fuel and engines. We are delighted that one of the biggest and most influential container lines has also invested in our X‑DF‑M technology, sending a strong signal to all operators currently making their own alternative fuel decisions.”
As previously stated, both X‑DF‑M and ammonia-fuelled X‑DF‑A engines will be available for delivery from Q1 2025. The combustion principle and engine platform deployed for X‑DF‑M engines is based on the latest X‑Engines from WinGD, supplemented by high-pressure methanol injection. X‑Engines, including the highly efficient X92‑B and X82‑2.0 engine, already power many of the world’s biggest container ships.
Notable features of X‑DF‑M engines include comparable performance with X‑Engines in both methanol and diesel modes, low pilot fuel requirements achieved through precisely controlled common rail injection, and NOx Tier III compliance in both modes with selective catalytic reduction. The new engine concept will be retrofittable to the X‑Engine series as soon as X‑DF‑M engines are available in the relevant bore sizes.
