The container shipping sector is leading the maritime industry's transition to cleaner fuels, with 534 vessels on order that will run on alternative fuels, accounting for 53 per cent of all container ships on order and 77 per cent of TEU capacity, reports Ventura, California's gCaptain.

BIMCO's latest analysis shows the container sector far ahead of bulkers, crude tankers and product tankers in adopting alternative fuels. The latter sectors have only 8, 17 and 9 per cent of their order books respectively dedicated to such vessels.

The order book also includes 321 ships that will use conventional heavy fuel and 155 designed for future conversion to alternative fuels. Larger vessels are driving the shift, with 81 per cent of ships above 8,000 TEU capacity opting for alternative fuels.

LNG remains the dominant alternative fuel, powering two-thirds of the ships on order. Methanol accounts for 31 per cent, having briefly overtaken LNG in 2023 before falling behind again.

BIMCO attributes the container sector's lead to its market structure, dominated by a few large companies, unlike the bulker and tanker sectors which are fragmented and less inclined to invest in new fuel technologies.

The report warns that fuel availability remains a key challenge. While low-carbon shipbuilding technology exists, the supply of suitable fuels is lagging, affecting contracting decisions.

BIMCO forecasts that by 2030, the container fleet will include 837 alternatively-fuelled ships with 10.9 million TEU capacity, potentially representing over 25 per cent of global container capacity.