Diesel DNA, green future: Everllence backs methanol for maritime decarbonisation

Kristian Mogensen, promotion manager explains why his company uses the diesel principle over the Otto cycle for the basis of its methanol engines. According to him :“In otto cycle, you’re pre-mixing the fuel inside the combustion chamber, and then you have the compression heating up, and you have a pilot fuel light injection. Otto cycle principle is a little bit more difficult to control in terms of the combustion process. This means that you basically gain more efficiency out of the diesel process.”

He adds: “We are getting the best fuel consumption, the best efficiency out of the engine by using the diesel principle.” By adapting the reliable diesel-cycle combustion, Everllence is able to maximise fuel efficiency and reduce operating costs.

But there is another key reason for sticking to the Diesel principle which has been used since the 1890s; the ease of retrofitting existing engines.

As shipping companies seek to transition legacy vessels to low‑carbon operation, retrofits offer an alternative pathway for existing fleet in a fast and, cost‑effective route . Everllence’s retrofit strategy is already bearing fruit: Maersk has suecessfully retrofitted the first G95 and signed on for additional ten ME‑LGIM engine retrofits, all conducted by Everllence PrimeServ, illustrating that the approach is commercially viabl.

Everllence’s rich & pioneering history with methanol

The first methanol-powered two-stroke engine entered service in 2016, installed aboard a methanol carrier, made by legacy MAN Energy Solutions. As Mogensen recalls, “Back then the methanol engine was designed for methanol carriers, also being able to burn it inside in the engine. It enabled the ship owner to decide whether to use it for bunker fuel, or as cargo,” Initially fuelled with grey methanol to reduce operational expenditure, the technology later pivoted to greener variants as bio‑ and e‑methanol sources materialised. Mogensen notes this shift: “Back then it was gray, not for a green solution presenting opaque solutions for the ship owners. But since then methanol has really gained momentum because ship owners like Maersk, CMA CGM, OCL, COSCO and HMM saw the opportunity of being able to burn green methanol produced in a Power-to-X set up.”

By the time methanol began trending in the market, Everllence had already racked up half a million operating hours and pioneered multiple design refinements: “When this hype came into the market, we were already at our third or the fourth iteration of the engine design.” That experience, combined with customer demand, sparked the current wave of retrofits.

The business of methanol

Reflecting on the economics, Mogensen says that methanol’s competitive advantage lies partly in ease of storage: “One of the key benefits compared to say methane or ammonia, is that you can actually store it at ambient temperature and ambient pressures. you don’t need a special tank, pressurised, or even to cool it down. You need a certain coating but it’s a minor update.” That removes barriers facing other alternative fuels such as ammonia, making adoption more straightforward and cost‑effective.

Everllence is already in talks with shipowners that “have managed to secure quite substantial amounts of green methanol, for instance one client has a plant in China and they have been able to source a substantial amount of green methanol allowing it to propose a fleet of methanol container ships.” This project is called Goldwind.

In parallel, Maersk’s pioneering retrofit of the ‘Maersk Halifax’, a 15,000 TEU container ship, converted to a dual‑fuel ME‑LGIM Mk10.5 engine in late 2024, was the first retrofit of a Very‑Large Container Vessel. Conducted over 88 days in Zhoushan, it included new fuel tanks, fuel prep systems, fuel supply systems and hull extension. The end result is expected to cut CO₂ emissions by up to 90 % when operated on green methanol.

Green credentials and availability

When it comes to future fuels. Each owner has a preferred fuel of choice. However three factors which will determine their viability are environmental credentials, their availability and cost. On the first point, it’s clear that methanol runs cleaner than conventional heavy fuel oil. Mogensen asserts that “we actually getting a little bit better fuel efficiency because methanol inherently burns colder enabling us to tune the engines more efficient .” Operating on green methanol can deliver life‑cycle greenhouse‑gas reductions of 65–90 %, alongside eliminating SOx and particulate emissions.

On the second and perhaps most critical point for future fuels, availability, methanol bunkering is rapidly advancing. Compared with LNG, which took five or six years to build a global bunkering network, methanol infrastructure is accelerating swiftly, especially along emerging green corridors linking Asia and Europe via Singapore and the Middle East. Port authorities, bunker suppliers and shipowners are working together to bring this fuel to scale. Mogensen observes: “for methane [LNG], it took five, six years, we are seeing some very good initiatives, with port authorities, bunker suppliers, together with the ship owners” working together to make methanol widely available.

Everllence’s methanol engines are 95 % identical to conventional two‑stroke diesels; only a secondary methanol injection system, comprising specialised valves and a gas‑distribution block, is added. This means vessels can run on 100% diesel or 100% methanol at the flip of a switch: “Our methanol engine is basically a regular Diesel engine, all you need is a secondary fuel injection system. You have the conventional engine, which is 95% the same, but then you add the 5% on top, which is the methanol injection system. So this is a completely separate fuel system next to the conventional fuel system.

“And then you can also operate on 100% on methanol supplying it using specialised fuel injection valves.”

Everllence is not only retrofitting older vessels or subsequent generations, but also scaling up the power: in February 2025 a Chinese shipyard unveiled a 64,500 kW methanol dual‑fuel engine for a 16,000 TEU vessel, while Everllence itself is supplying the worlds biggest methanol powered engines rated at 82,440 kW for next‑generation 24,000 TEU ships. This underscores the rapid growth and credibility of methanol-fuelled propulsion.

Global demand for methanol-fuelled vessels is surging. As of late 2024, the International Maritime Organization reported around 170 methanol-burning ships on order, including 25 container ships by Maersk alone. Maersk’s agreement to secure green methanol from China’s LONGi Green Energy also highlights the progressive supply side.

To meet urgent decarbonisation targets—for instance, Maersk aims for net‑zero emissions by 2040—methanol represents a practical bridge fuel. Mogensen says he was “surprised that the interest was as huge as it actually was, driven a lot by Maersk going out in the market and bidding on methanol. And then there were fast followers.” With about 4,000 engines worldwide potentially suitable for dual‑fuel conversion, the retrofitting path remains crucial .

Everllence’s success with the ME‑LGIM engine, now proven over hundreds of thousands of hours and with large‑scale retrofits completed, offers shipping companies a flexible, scalable, low‑carbon technology. With green methanol production and bunkering infrastructure developing apace, methanol appears poised to play a decisive role in the industry’s energy transition—allowing existing ships to switch fuels rather than being scrapped.

In the journey to sustainability, Everllence’s methanol technology demonstrates that the future of shipping need not wait for newbuilds, complex fuel infrastructures or unproven solutions. It can sail aboard the very vessels already on our seas.

For more on retrofitting vessels to comply with green regulations, read this and join us at Propulsion and Future Fuels in November.