On May 8, the world’s first 24,000 TEU methanol dual-fuel container ship, the “OOCL WISDOM” (NE456), built by COSCO Shipping Heavy Industry’s Nantong COSCO KHI Ship Engineering for Orient Overseas Container Line, was officially named in Nantong, Jiangsu.
This is Orient Overseas’ first methanol dual-fuel container ship and the first of seven vessels in the same series. The completion of this maritime giant marks another major breakthrough in China’s design and construction of ultra-large clean energy vessels. The naming ceremony was held at the dock of Nantong COSCO KHI Ship Engineering. Ms. Cao Yanping, Director of Fujian Yaohua Industrial Village Development Co., Ltd., named the “OOCL WISDOM” and offered blessings in the presence of numerous guests.
The “OOCL WISDOM” has an overall length of 399.99 meters, a beam of 61.3 meters, and a total deck area equivalent to 3.5 standard football fields. When fully loaded, the hull height is comparable to a 22-story residential building. It has a maximum container capacity of 24,168 standard containers, a deadweight of 225,000 tons, and a speed of 22.7 knots, making it the world’s largest methanol dual-fuel container ship.
The core breakthrough of the “OOCL WISDOM” lies in its world’s largest methanol dual-fuel power system. COSCO Shipping Heavy Industry spent three years on independent research and successfully installed a complete optimal solution balancing environmental protection, economy, and adaptability onto this global largest container ship hull. The vessel is equipped with the world’s largest methanol dual-fuel power system, including the largest methanol dual-fuel main engine, auxiliary engines, and boiler. It can flexibly switch between methanol and traditional fuel during navigation. When using green methanol, the ship achieves full lifecycle carbon neutrality. It is estimated that a single vessel can reduce carbon dioxide emissions by approximately 150,000 tons per year, equivalent to the carbon sequestration effect of planting 820,000 trees, with near-zero sulfur oxide emissions and significantly reduced nitrogen oxides, easily meeting the world’s strictest environmental standards.
The “OOCL WISDOM” is equipped with a full-stack intelligent control system independently developed by COSCO Shipping, fully meeting the highest requirements of the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) for intelligent ships and cybersecurity. Its intelligent energy efficiency management system automatically optimizes speed and power based on sea conditions and load. Paired with a permanent magnet shaft generator, it reduces carbon emissions and saves costs. The hull structure intelligent monitoring system conducts 24/7 “physical examinations” to predict “fatigue damage” in advance. The wireless intelligent control of refrigerated containers automatically alarms under abnormal conditions, ensuring safer cold chain transportation.
Methanol is flammable, explosive, and somewhat toxic, a recognized industry challenge. To address this, the Nantong COSCO KHI Ship Engineering project team built a comprehensive three-dimensional safety defense system, from fuel tank structural safety and gas diffusion analysis to high-pressure water cannons and carbon dioxide fire extinguishing systems. Gas concentration monitoring systems are deployed in all critical areas of the vessel, immediately triggering alarms and emergency responses if methanol concentration becomes abnormal. After tens of thousands of extreme sea condition simulation tests, every future voyage is ensured to be safe and reliable.
Over the past 30-plus years, COSCO Shipping Heavy Industry has continuously invested in the high-end shipbuilding sector, gradually mastering core technologies across multiple categories, from green container ships and intelligent vessels to offshore new energy equipment, forming a product matrix covering all types including green container ships, intelligent ships, and new energy equipment.
As the first intelligent manufacturing demonstration enterprise in China’s shipbuilding industry and a national-level green factory, Nantong COSCO KHI Ship Engineering has achieved leapfrog development in container ship construction from 5,400 TEU to 24,000 TEU since its inception, continuously filling gaps in domestic high-end shipbuilding technology. The completion of the “OOCL WISDOM” not only breaks foreign technological monopolies in the high-end green vessel market but also consolidates China’s first-mover advantage in ultra-large container ships and clean energy vessel types, providing a “Chinese solution” for global shipping decarbonization.
The delivery of this vessel marks a new height for the Orient Overseas fleet in technological innovation and green low-carbon development. In recent years, COSCO Shipping Holdings has steadily expanded its green fleet, ordering 70 dual-fuel container ships, of which 7 have been put into operation, covering diversified green power paths such as methanol and LNG.
It is worth noting that during the sea trials, China Marine Bunker’s Nantong Zhongran Company provided methanol fuel for the “OOCL WISDOM,” supplying a total of 1,600 cubic meters (approximately 1,272 tons) of methanol over 16 consecutive hours, setting three new records—the largest single methanol supply via truck-to-ship skid in China, the largest methanol bunkering for a dual-fuel container ship globally, and the highest single supply efficiency in China—providing a replicable and scalable practical sample for the layout and large-scale promotion of methanol bunkering networks along China’s rivers and coasts.
At the naming ceremony, Orient Overseas CEO Tao Weidong stated that the delivery of the “OOCL WISDOM” will not only expand Orient Overseas’ fleet size and elevate the technical level of its vessels but also reflects the company’s unwavering commitment to green low-carbon, digital intelligence, and sustainable development. The successive delivery of large, modern, high-efficiency vessels represented by the “OOCL WISDOM” will help Orient Overseas achieve fleet scale development and iterative upgrades in vessel performance, build a more energy-efficient, environmentally friendly, efficient, intelligent, and extensive shipping network, and support the prosperous development of global trade with safer, more reliable, and sustainable logistics solutions.
