The container shipping industry is rapidly pivoting toward cleaner fuels, with more than half of all new vessels on order set to run on alternatives to traditional heavy fuel oil.
As of the end of August 2025, shipowners have ordered 534 container ships capable of using alternative fuels, according to data released on September 18 by shipping association BIMCO. Those vessels account for 53% of all container ships currently on order, as well as 77% of the total carrying capacity on order, measured in twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs). By 2030, BIMCO projects that more than a quarter of all container capacity could come from alternatively-fueled ships.
BIMCO noted that larger ships have been leading the transition, with alternatively-fueled vessels accounting for 81% of all orders for ships with capacities of 8,000 TEUs or more. Conversely, other major shipping sectors have been slow to follow suit, with alternatively-fueled vessels making up just 8%, 9% and 17% of bulker, product tanker and crude tanker ships on order respectively. BIMCO suggested this could reflect structural differences, given that the container sector is dominated by a few large companies, while the bulker and tanker markets are more fragmented and made up of smaller operators.
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LNG is currently the most popular alternative fuel, as the choice to power about two-thirds of all alternatively-fueled ships on order, while methanol fuels account for 31%. Methanol led the way in 2023, but LNG has since overtaken it, likely due to better global availability, and a well-established infrastructure for production and bunkering for the fuel dating back years.
