Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd. (MOL) and TotalEnergies Marine Fuels have completed the first refueling of a ship with biofuels in Singapore, the shipping company said on Wednesday.

The ship, a car and truck carrier named Heroic Ace, was refueled using biofuel supplied by TotalEnergies via a ship-to-ship transfer on June 11, MOL said in a statement.

The biofuel blend that was used in the trial comprised of very low sulfur fuel oil (VLSFO) blended with 20% second-generation, waste-based and ISCC-certified used cooking oil methyl ester (UCOME), MOL said. ISCC is a sustainability certification system covering bio-based feedstocks and renewables.

The use of the biofuel is expected to reduce approximately 17% of greenhouse gas emissions compared with conventional fuel oil, the company added.

“MOL Car Carrier Division has been working on trial usage of biofuel during navigation in the European short haul trade for more than a year,” said Koichi Hirata, general manager at MOL’s Car Carrier Division. MOL is expanding the use of biofuels on its ships to longer voyages, Hirata said.

The biofuel was used during the carrier’s voyage to Jebel Ali in the United Arab Emirates.

The shipping industry has seen an uptick in biofuel bunkering trials this year, as maritime decarbonisation gathers pace and bunkering demand for alternative fuels rises.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Jeslyn Lerh Editing by Mark Potter)