mmdeinternational.com - Maersk 🚢 Tests Brazilian 🇧🇷 Ethanol Mix 🌱 to Power Cleaner Maritime Fuel ⛽🌊

Maersk is trialling a fuel blend composed of Brazilian ethanol, methanol, and conventional marine diesel (bunker fuel) in its vessel engines. The blend currently contains around 10% ethanol. If adopted industry‑wide, this blend could drive demand of about 50 billion litres of ethanol per year globally. Brazil’s ethanol production is expected at ~35 billion litres this year. Maersk accounts for about 15% of the global maritime shipping market. The shipping sector contributes roughly 3% of global greenhouse gas emissions. 

The choice of Brazilian ethanol is driven by its sourcing from sugar‑cane and corn/soy rotation areas — which reportedly helps minimise deforestation risks. 

This marks one of the first times ethanol is being burned in a large two‑stroke marine engine (described as “four stories tall”). For Brazil’s bio‑fuel industry it opens up a potential new export channel and major volume demand. For shipping, which has high fuel‑intensity and limited decarbonisation options, this is a notable step toward cleaner fuel alternatives. Replacing or supplementing heavy bunker fuel with more bio‑based blends can help reduce carbon & lifecycle emissions — aligning with Maersk’s goal of net‑zero emissions by 2040. 

Maersk plans to wrap up this initial blending test (ethanol + methanol) by around October 23, 2025, then move into bunker‑fuel applications. If successful, Maersk will enter negotiations with major Brazilian ethanol producers such as Raízen, Copersucar, Inpasa, FS and Atvos. There remain questions around engine durability, fuel supply logistics, cost competitiveness, regulatory frameworks, and true lifecycle environmental benefit (including land‐use and production impacts). Scaling from a 10% ethanol blend in trials to full commercial adoption where vessels globally run significant shares of this blend will require major fuel‑infrastructure shifts and investment.