The global newbuilding market remained active in the first half of 2026, but the order structure for alternative-fuel vessels is showing a clearer divergence.

According to Clarkson Research, a total of 1,625 newbuilding orders were recorded globally in the first half of 2026, representing 43.5656 million compensated gross tonnes (CGT). Among them, around 246 newbuilding orders were for vessels capable of using alternative fuels, accounting for 15.1% of total orders by vessel count. In CGT terms, these orders totaled 12.6963 million CGT, representing 29.1% of total newbuilding orders.

By fuel type, LNG remained the most important, mature and scalable alternative-fuel pathway in the newbuilding market in the first half of 2026. By contrast, actual new orders for methanol, ammonia and hydrogen-fueled vessels remained significantly limited. In particular, methanol dual-fuel vessels, which had previously attracted strong market attention, saw almost no new ordering wave in the first half of 2026.

LNG Remains the Clear Leader in Alternative-fuel Orders

In the first half of 2026, newbuilding orders for LNG-fueled vessels totaled 173 ships, representing 10.5745 million CGT, making LNG the largest category among all alternative-fuel types.

Of these, 54 were LNG carriers, accounting for 31.2% of LNG-fueled vessel orders. After excluding LNG carriers, there were still 119 non-LNG carriers with LNG fuel capability. These were mainly distributed across containerships, PCTCs, product tankers, LNG bunkering vessels, cruise ships, liquid CO2 carriers, crude/product tankers, bulk carriers and tugboats, including 63 containerships and 27 PCTCs.

In the current competition among alternative-fuel pathways, LNG’s advantages still mainly come from engineering maturity, shipyard construction experience, fuel supply systems, bunkering networks and operational certainty. For shipowners seeking to meet emissions compliance requirements while controlling technical risk at this stage, LNG remains a relatively practical option.

Other Alternative Fuels

In the first half of 2026, LPG-fueled vessel orders totaled 54 ships, representing 1.5909 million CGT. These orders were highly concentrated in the gas carrier segment. Without exception, all of them came from LPG carriers and ammonia/LPG carriers.

Ethane-fueled vessel orders totaled seven ships, representing 210,500 CGT. These were also all ethane/LPG carriers.

Hydrogen-related orders totaled three ships, representing 424,700 CGT. These included one liquefied hydrogen carrier being built for Japan Suiso Energy, Ltd., as well as two LNG dual-fuel cruise ships equipped with hydrogen fuel cells being built for Royal Caribbean at Meyer Turku.

For ammonia, four newbuilding orders were recorded in the first half of 2026, representing 82,900 CGT. All four were bulk carriers ordered by Australia’s Energy ONE Limited at India’s Swan Defence and Heavy Industries Limited (SDHI).

Methanol Dual-fuel Vessel Orders Almost Stall

Methanol dual-fuel vessels have been a key focus of market attention over the past few years.

However, in the first half of 2026, the Clarksons database recorded only four newbuilding orders for methanol dual-fuel vessels, representing 213,700 CGT and 891,400 dwt. By vessel count, methanol dual-fuel vessels accounted for only 0.37% of all newbuilding orders in the first half of 2026. In CGT terms, the share was only 0.49%.

In addition, a total of 85 vessels were ordered with methanol-ready notation in the first half of 2026, accounting for 5.2% of total newbuilding orders by vessel count. These vessels represented around 2.3236 million CGT, or 5.3% of the total CGT ordered. Compared with methanol dual-fuel vessels, the cost of methanol-ready preparation is usually only in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, typically accounting for around 0.5% to 2% of total newbuilding cost.

After several years of rapid growth in market interest, methanol dual-fuel vessels entered a clear wait-and-see phase in the first half of 2026.

Among the four methanol dual-fuel vessels, one was a 3,000 dwt platform supply vessel (PSV) ordered by the Shipping Corporation of India (SCI) at India’s state-owned Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDL). Such vessels are typically used to provide logistics support for offshore oil platforms and floating production, storage and offloading units (FPSOs).

Another was a subsea rock installation vessel ordered by Dutch offshore engineering group Van Oord at CIMC Raffles. This order was a continuation of the 1+1 contract signed by the two sides in July 2025, with one option declared in January and therefore counted as a 2026 newbuilding order.

The remaining two methanol dual-fuel vessels were recorded at JMU Kure/Imabari. They are 8,600 TEU mid-sized containerships, but the shipowner and operator information remains unknown. At present, most vessels ordered at Japanese shipyards are placed by Japanese domestic shipowners.

Although methanol bunkering activities remained active at Chinese coastal ports in the first half of 2026, the word “methanol” has been appearing less frequently on international media platforms. Correspondingly, international shipping giants such as Maersk, Cargill and Trafigura, as well as leading global engine manufacturers including WinGD, Everllence and Wärtsilä, have shifted more of their promotional focus to “ethanol”.

In April 2026, backed by charter support from Brazilian mining giant Vale, Shandong Shipping placed an order at Qingdao Beihai Shipbuilding for two second-generation Guaibamax very large ore carriers capable of using methanol, ethanol and conventional fuel — a tri-fuel configuration.

According to market sources, Vale is continuing to build an ethanol tri-fuel fleet totaling 20 vessels, which are expected to be constructed for China’s Shandong Shipping and South Korea’s HMM and Polaris Shipping.