Maersk Completes First US Bioethanol Bunkering Voyage with WinGD Engine

Maersk’s 9,000 TEU Tangier Maersk has completed a voyage from Houston to New York using ethanol fuel, marking the first in-service operation of WinGD’s X-DF-M/E alcohol-fuel engine platform on bioethanol.

The vessel bunkered the fuel at the Port of Houston in late September, with POET supplying a 100% bioethanol blend for the WinGD X82DF-M engine. According to WinGD, the operation marked both the first marine bunkering of a 100% bioethanol blend in the US and the first in-service ethanol bunkering of one of its engines.

The voyage extends the operating capability of WinGD’s X-DF-M/E platform, which entered service on methanol in 2025 before multi-alcohol functionality was introduced this year. Six mid-sized Maersk sister vessels are equipped to operate on both methanol and ethanol.

“The use of bioethanol as a marine fuel is a natural progression for WinGD after successful operating experience with methanol using the same engine platform,” said Sebastian Hensel, Vice President Research & Development at WinGD.

The bunkering operation involved Maersk, POET, Kirby Corporation and the Port of Houston, with the US Coast Guard verifying regulatory requirements for the operation.

WinGD says the chemical similarities between methanol and ethanol allow both fuels to be used in the same X-DF-M/E engine, with injection settings optimised accordingly.

This gives operators the flexibility to switch between the two fuels depending on availability, cost and required greenhouse-gas reductions.

“Bioethanol is a scalable, lower-emission fuel option that can offer greater flexibility in how the maritime industry approaches its transition to lower-carbon fuels,” said Emma Mazhari, Vice President Energy Markets at Maersk.