CMA CGM has joined forces with energy giant Shell to run its massive fleet of boxships off of bunker made partially of used cooking oil.
The French liner behemoth will acquire "tens of thousands of tons" of the second-generation biofuel from the English company in "a large-scale partnership", the Rodolphe Saade-led owner said.
"This quantity, which is unique in the industry, will allow the Group's ships to travel nearly 1 million kilometers, equivalent to over 80 round-trips between Rotterdam and New York," CMA CGM said.
The fuel consists of 80% of low-sulphur fuel oil and 20% cooking oil-based biofuel, the company with a fleet of 506 ships said.
"The biofuel used reduces greenhouse gas emissions by 80% and virtually eliminates sulphur oxides emissions," CMA CGM said.
"This new development once again demonstrates the group's ability to develop sustainable solutions for the benefit of its customers."
Privately-held CMA CGM in March teamed with IKEA Transport & Logistics Services, The GoodShipping Program and the Port of Rotterdam to try biofuel during a vessel bunkering.
The Marseilles-based company, which also has nine 23,000-teu boxships that run off LNG set for 2020 delivery, performed the trial on 5,095-teu CMA CGM White Shark (built 2007) and 16,022-teu CMA CGM Alexander von Humboldt (built 2013).
Mediterranean Shipping Co on Monday said it will start fueling its fleet on biofuels.
