Amid the raging debate in India over the use of ethanol-blended fuels in vehicles, CMA CGM on Tuesday (local time) launched one of their new-generation container ships with ethanol in the fuel tank—specifically, bio-ethanol.
The CMA CGM Iron (IMO: 9996678) is the first in a series of 12 dual-fuel vessels with a capacity of 13,000 TEUs to be deployed by the French shipping major over 2025 and 2026.
Though the Malta-flagged vessel, built by Korean shipbuilder HD Hyundai Samho, entered operations back in March 2025, its departure from the Port of Santos in Brazil marks a major milestone for not just CMA CGM, but also the global maritime sector.
This is because the ship's July 14 departure marks the first time in the world that ethanol will be used for deep-sea shipping operations after the International Maritime Organization's (IMO) decarbonisation push paved the way for it.
But is it the first to be powered by 100 per cent ethanol? That question is a bit more complicated.
This is because the engine of the new container ship, an Everllence-B&W G95ME-C10.5-LGIM, was originally certified as a dual-fuel ship engine, capable of running on both conventional fuels like bunker oil, and alternative fuels like bio-methanol.
However, the engine was later tested for the use of bio-ethanol alongside the conventional fuels and bio-methanol, since both alcohols are somewhat chemically similar.
This has led to a number of shipping companies trying this out at various levels, in order to achieve energy flexibility.
Maersk, for example, tried out operating dual-fuel feeder container ship Laura Maersk on short routes using 100 per cent ethanol. Singapore-based container line X-Press Feeders has also trialled a blend of 90 per cent bio-methanol and 10 per cent ethanol on one of its methanol-fuelled container ships in Rotterdam.
However, Brazilian company Vale's new Guaibamax vessels, scheduled for delivery in 2029, could actually be the first deep-sea vessels to use 100 per cent ethanol.
The CMA CGM Iron, which is also part of the shipping company's plan to deploy around 200 such container ships by 2031, will make port calls at Singapore and Sri Lanka before heading to its final destination in this journey, China.
