Alternative-Fuel Ship Orders Outpace Port Bunkering Infrastructure, Lloyd’s Register Warns
The global shipping industry is ordering alternative-fuel vessels faster than ports can develop the infrastructure needed to fuel them, according to a new report from Lloyd’s Register (LR), highlighting a...
LR’s new Fuel for Thought: Ports report, released Monday, found that 1,942 alternative-fuel-capable vessels were on order as of January 2026, representing 47% of the global orderbook by tonnage, according to Clarksons Research.
But the infrastructure needed to support those ships varies dramatically depending on the fuel.
Liquefied natural gas (LNG) bunkering was available at 222 ports worldwide, compared with just 25 ports actively offering methanol. Commercial ammonia bunkering, meanwhile, has been recorded at only one port, following the first operation at Ulsan, South Korea, in April 2026.
The disparity is particularly significant given that shipowners have ordered 385 methanol-capable vessels and 45 ammonia-capable ships, according to LR.
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