Maersk Unveils New Eco Ship, Marred By Controversy
On Tuesday, Aug. 27th, A.P. Møller-Mærsk unveiled its new ship, the Aletta Maersk, at a naming ceremony in the Port of Los Angeles at an event in collaboration with Nike. A.P. Møller-Mærsk, commonly known as Maersk, is Danish-owned and the world’s largest shipping and logistics company. Chloe Kim, an American snowboarder, two-time Olympic gold medalist, and Nike athlete, was ordained as the ship’s godmother.
The Aletta Maersk is the first dual-fuel methanol-enabled container ship to arrive in the United States and across the Pacific Ocean, coming in at 1148 feet long and with a capacity of 16,592 TEU (1 TEU is equal to 28 tons or 24,000 Kilograms). The vessel can save 280 tons of CO2 per day compared to its sister vessels. This is part of Maersk’s goal to reach net 0 emissions by 2040 by creating a new fleet of 25 eco-friendly dual-fuel engine vessels that use methanol. These have already been ordered or produced by South Korean shipbuilding giants HD Hyundai Heavy Industries, Hyundai Mipo Dockyard, and Chinese Yangzijiang Shipbuilding Group.
Maersk has already christened five of these eco-friendly ships, including the Aletta Maersk. Maersk anticipates saving up to 1.5 million tons of C02 annually after replacing its sister ships with this new fleet. Currently, Maersk owns charters for up to 700 different ships but is working to sign new building orders and time-charter contracts for 50 to 60 dual-fuel vessels. Currently, 3% of the world’s total greenhouse gasses come from the shipping industry. “The shipping industry is vast, complex, and difficult to decarbonize. Our new series of dual-fuel vessels is a start, but it’s not a sustainable solution. We need immediate, coordinated action across all industries. By 2030, we aim to transport 25% of our ocean cargo using low-emissions fuel. However, achieving this target requires systemic change. We urgently need regulation that makes green fuels viable and affordable,” Vincent Clerc, CEO of Maersk, is quoted as saying in Offshore Energy Biz.
The event did not go without controversy when protesters under the label of Mask Off Maersk from the Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM) temporarily blocked off access to a road leading into the port. Mask Off Maersk is a campaign from the PYM with the expressed goals of “targeting weapons, logistics companies, the invisible profiteers, and facilitators of genocide.” Their demands for Maersk are as follows:
1. For Maersk to end the transportation of weapons and weapons components
2. To cut all contracts that fuel the genocide of the Palestinian people
3. To implement an arms embargo to end the genocide
The website of Mask Off Maersk alleges “Since October, Maersk has transported over $300 million of weapons components for the top 5 weapons manufacturers to the US for assembly. For example, Maersk transports the wings of Lockheed Martin's F-35 fighter jets to the US where these weapons are manufactured. After assembly, these weapons are sent to Israel from the US. In fact, 68% of Israel's weapons come from the US. The majority of these weapons are sent by the US Department of Defense which Maersk also has links to. Specifically, Maersk is part of the Voluntary Intermodal Sealift Agreement (VISA) and the Maritime Security Program (MSP) which transport weapons on behalf of the US Department of Defense. Maersk is both complicit in the transport of weapons components to the US, and the transport of weapons from the US to Israel, making it a critical link in the weapons supply chain. Logistics companies, with Maersk as the industry’s lead, are the invisible profiteers of weapons manufacturing, making the genocide of Palestinians a reality. Targeting Maersk directly disrupts the flow of weapons in the supply chain of death used to genocide Palestinians.”
The event originally set to take place on Aug. 28th would allow guests to tour parts of the ship like its living quarters and the bridge under the captain’s command. The event was canceled and those who had tickets were notified the morning of the 28th, while the Aletta Maersk had left port that morning bound for Tacoma. Additionally, security was present at the event site, while remnants of the ship’s ceremony could be seen behind locked gates on the pier.
Upon reaching out to Kevin Doell, a Media Manager at Maersk for North America, for the reason behind the cancellation of the event, he said, “We had recently learned that activist groups were planning protests in connection with our event at the Port of Los Angeles, where the public was invited aboard our vessel. The security assessment indicated a risk that the protests could escalate to a level that would disrupt the event and necessitate a police response. Therefore, after consultation with local authorities, we decided to cancel the event to avoid any escalation that could endanger visitors or protesters. We regret this situation, especially for the many visitors who had registered for the event.”
Several hundred protesters from the Palestinian Youth Movement gathered near the Port of Los Angeles in a parking lot adjacent to 22nd Street Landing Sport Fishing in San Pedro, California around 4 p.m. on Aug. 28th. Protesters gathered around as members from PYM gave congratulatory speeches behind banners that read “Mask off Maersk” and “LA demands: Maersk cut ties with genocide.” A performative art piece depicting a Maersk shipping container with fake dead bodies was set up at the gathering spot. Merlin, a member of the top 200 Billboard-charting now-disbanded boyband Brockhampton, was also seen joining the protest. A main speaker from the movement during the speeches said, “This is where we kicked Maersk out of LA.”
The protesters then pushed past a metal gate, streaming onto the pier heading down Miner Street passing multiple port security officers towards Birth 46 where the tours of the ship were originally set to be held. As protesters began marching down the pier they began to chant, “Shut it down. Shut it down. No Zionism in this town. There's an arms embargo in this town,” as well as “We’re not stopping. Bombs are dropping.”
Abdullah Farouq, a member of Labor for Palestine and AUW, then gave a speech to the crowd criticizing Maersk for their involvement in shipping weapons to Israel, and their unsafe and unfair labor practices in their company. He called on the employees of these ships to join in solidarity, stating “Our solidarity means that if civilian mariners at Maersk push their employer to cut ties with the Department of Defense, we will be there with them. We invite every maritime worker who wants to stand up to the corporate greed that is driving Maersk’s complicity in genocide to break bread with us. Reach out to us in Los Angeles and across the country. Reach out to the Palestinian Youth Movement because we want to hear from you. Your fight is our fight.” In the Maersk 2023 annual report they state “In 2023, the company failed to live up to that commitment and, with deepest regret, four people lost their lives while on active duty for A.P. Møller-Mærsk, including two employees and two contractors.”
Protesters then headed back down the Pier to the intersection of Miner Street and East 22nd Street, temporarily taking over the intersection. A small police presence was seen locking off traffic on East 22nd Street before the protesters disbanded shortly after giving speeches. Upon questioning Thawra Khalid from the Palestinian Youth Movement, she said that “the goal here today was that even though Maersk was enabling the genocide in Palestine, we will not sit back and allow them to commit war crimes, but instead call them out and unmask them in their attempts to hide the fact they are trying to be this new green initiative, but they have been not only committing genocide against the Palestinians but an eco-genocide.” Khalid also said, “How can a company claim to care about the planet when they are dropping bombs on it?”
A response from Maersk, marked as privileged and intended only for the recipients named, read “Maersk serves all types of customers, both companies and states, and we operate in all countries that are not sanctioned, including all countries in the Middle East. Maersk is committed to responsible business practices, adhering to international standards and regulations. This includes ensuring that we do not transport weapons or ammunition into conflict zones or to countries and areas currently involved in armed conflicts, or under an arms embargo.”