Maersk and its customer Primark celebrated at the Port of Felixstowe today as the shipping giant's latest 'green fuel' vessel docked for a naming ceremony.

The huge dual fuel cargo ship - which was named Alexandra Maersk - took around a month to travel from China to the UK container port.

The vessel - the fifth of its kind and the sixth Maersk green fuel ship - was named after Alexandra Mærsk-Møller (1868-1953) - an older sister of AP Moller-Maersk founder AP Møller, who started the company in Denmark.

The last stage of the voyage - from Tangiers in north Africa - was completed without incident using green methanol as fuel.

(Image: Maersk)

At the moment, there is not enough green methanol to fuel an entire voyage but Maersk is working with a Chinese company, Goldwind, to try to address the shortfall. 

Its changeover captains - Cristian Besa  of Rumania and Hans Helsi-Strom of the Faroe Islands - were there to greet guests who were given a tour of the immense vessel.

Primark's HR boss Elaine Condon - the godmother of the ship - performed the naming ceremony while sea cadets provided a musical accompaniment and welcomed guests who walked the red carpet to the vessel.

The ship - which can carry 16,592 standard containers (TEU) - sits about 15m in the water. It measures 350m in length and 54m across.

Vincent Clerk CEO of Maersk at the Port of Felixstowe (Image: Lucy Taylor) It completed the voyage with a small multi-national crew of about 25 - the vessels can be crewed by about 22 people - and was greeted by VIPs including the UK’s maritime minister Mike Kane, Maersk chief executive Vincent Clerc, Primark boss Paul Marchant, Hutchison Ports UK chief executive Clemence Cheng and representatives of the International Maritime Organization (IMO).

Paul Marchant, CEO of Primark at the Port of Felixstowe (Image: Lucy Taylor) Maersk and clothing retail giant Primark are keen to move towards zero carbon transport - but the cost of the green methanol - or other options - to power ships like the Alexandra Maersk is prohibitive - about two or three times that of conventional 'black' fuel.

Maersk is lobbying for changes at international level such as a surcharge on carbon-producing shipping fuel used to offset the cost of methanol and other green fuel options to make it affordable for customers.

Mr Clerc said last week the IMO met in the UK to discuss the issues and "the meeting was held in a positive and constructive atmosphere". But he added: "Much work remains in the current months".

"The consequences of climate change are not distant warnings - they are present realities that require urgent attention," he warned. "When it comes to the climate, every step counts."

Mr Kane said greener transport was a top priority for the new Labour government.

Maritime minister Mike Kane (Image: Lucy Taylor) "This is exactly the kind of innovation we need to deliver a greener, cleaner maritime sector which is better for people and for our planet,” he said.

Mr Marchant said his company was committed to reducing its impact on the environment across its entire operation - including its supply chain.

“Through our partnership with Maersk we have started to introduce green fuel alternatives, such as Biofuel, when shipping our products," he said.

"By using Maersk’s ECO Delivery Ocean product and replacing fossil fuels with green fuel alternatives on Maersk’s cargo ships, we are reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in our ocean shipping. This is a really important step for us at Primark as it supports our ambition to halve our carbon emissions across our value chain by 2030.”

Primark employees were among the groups given a special tour of the vessel after the naming ceremony.

The new methanol enabled ships can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 65% to 90% compared to conventional fossil fuels

Maersk - which employs more than 100,000 people including at Felixstowe - aims to reach net zero emissions by 2040 across its entire business by adopting new technologies, new vessels, and green fuels.

(Image: Maersk)