Alternative Fuel Tracker - November 2026

Alternative-fuel adoption is gaining momentum in the newbuilding market, with 1,530 ships, or 21.1 per cent of the global orderbook, capable of using alternative fuels, compared with just 3.3 per cent of the trading fleet. Beyond gas carriers, which are inherently well positioned to adopt cargo-based fuels, containerships have emerged as a leading adopter of alternative-fuel propulsion. About 34.2 per cent of the containership orderbook is planned to run on cleaner fuels. Tankers and dry bulk remain well behind, at just 4.2 per cent and 4.4 per cent, respectively. Instead, these sectors continue to favour scrubbers, which are fitted on 45.3 per cent of tanker orders and 21.7 per cent of dry bulk orders. Excluding LNG and LPG dual-fuel systems, methanol continues to lead alternative-fuel adoption, with 197 vessels on order alongside the 176 currently trading.