NCL Nordland: Second Methanol Containership Delivered to MPCC

NCL Nordland, the second of two 1,300 TEU dual-fuel methanol containerships ordered by Norwegian container tonnage provider MPC Container Ships (MPCC), has been delivered in China.

On April 13, 2025, the newbuilding left Taizhou Sanfu Shipbuilding pier and embarked on a two-month voyage home to Europe.

Ordered by MPCC back in 2022, NCL Nordland is chartered to the Norwegian transportation company North Sea Container Line (NCL). The long-term time charter is backed by contracts of affreightment (CoAs) from various parties, including a 15-year CoA with Norwegian industrial group Elkem ASA.

Earlier this month, NCL, Elkem, and MPCC christened NCL Vestland, the first methanol-powered feeder unit from the batch. The christening ceremony, which was held in Haugesund, Norway, on April 1, marked the commencement of the vessel’s service between Western, Central, and Northern Norway and Rotterdam, the Netherlands.

The container feeders are said to be the first vessels powered with bio-methanol in operation in Norway. According to MPCC, the ship construction project has established a green corridor in Northern Europe, facilitating the supply chain of green containers along the Norwegian coastline.

For Taizhou Sanfu Shipbuilding, the 1,300 TEU vessel is the first containership designed and built with methanol as the main fuel. Previously, the shipyard delivered boxships retrofitted to methanol operation as well as methanol-ready vessels.

As per the shipbuilder, the delivery of NCL Nordland comes at a time when the United States “is unreasonably suppressing the Chinese-built ships”. To remind, the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) laid out plans last week to introduce fees on Chinese ships calling American ports. The measure aims to disincentivize the use of Chinese-built vessels and curb the country’s dominance in the maritime sector on the one hand and revive the US maritime and shipbuilding industry on the other.