SIMIC

The vessels come with a dual fuel engine setup which enables operation on methanol as well as conventional marine gasoil (MGO), reports London's Port Technology.

MPCC said the new vessels will allow the carrier to take a significant leap forward in its commitment to use carbon-neutral solutions in regional container trades together with partners.

The newly ordered vessels come with 15-year time charters to Norwegian transportation company North Sea Container Line (NCL), backed by contracts of affreightment (CoAs) from various parties, including a 15-year CoA with Norwegian industrial group Elkem.

The project has been awarded NOK 13.7 million (US$1.4 million) by Enova, owned by the Norwegian Ministry of Climate and Environment, and NOK 60 million from the NOx fund, the Norwegian business sector's fund to reduce emissions.

The vessels will be majority owned by MPCC (90.1 per cent) together with Topeka MPC Maritime (9.9 per cent), a joint venture between Topeka Holding, a zero-emission shipping company owned by Wilhelmsen Group and MPC Capital.

"I am excited to announce the order of two carbon-neutral newbuildings with long-term time charters," said MPCC chief executive Constantin Baack.

"Together with our partners NCL and Elkem, this project allows us to set up a green transport corridor in northern Europe, proving our ability to identify and execute on opportunities that are accretive whilst allowing us to make the right move towards a further decarbonisation of the fleet.

"It also demonstrates that we can meet ambitious environmental goals by joining forces with like-minded partners and we are looking forward to facilitating a green container shipping supply chain along the Norwegian coastline," said Mr Baack.

Back in 2019, MPCC joined the Trident Alliance, an international network of shipping companies partnering for effective enforcement of sulphur regulations.

The alliance's aims is to ensure the IMO's upcoming sulphur regulations are enforced by the wider shipping industry.