Danish owner-operator Norden has signed a deal to supply a capesize bulker chartered by mining giant BHP with biofuel for a voyage between Australia and northern Europe.
About 1,000 tonnes of 100% biofuel (B100) will be supplied for the voyage between Hay Point and Rotterdam.
This means that Norden’s 182,288-dwt Nord Steel (built 2023) will emit about 2,500 tonnes less carbon than if it was using conventional marine fuel, equivalent to removing 543 fossil-fuelled vehicles from roads for a year, according to Norden.
BHP head of maritime Sarah Greenough said. “Since our first biofuel trial in 2021, BHP has introduced biofuel blends into the fuel mix for selected voyages on our major shipping routes.”
Norden chief executive Jan Rindbo said his company was “immensely proud” to be working with BHP to help lower its emissions from shipping.
“Biofuels are an integral part of our ambition to decarbonise our customers’ supply chains, as it can be applied directly onto our [over] 500 operated vessels without any engine modifications while delivering instant reductions to the benefit of our customers,” he said.
The deal comes just over a year since Norden acquired a minority stake in MASH Makes, a Danish-Indian biofuel scale-up, which researches, develops and produces renewable fuels from biomass waste.
Norden has also been developing the Norden Book & Claim initiative, which connects emission reductions made by Norden with customers who are not able to bunker low-carbon fuels due to trading routes or other constraints.
Norden has been exploring biofuels on board its vessels for some years and in 2018 became the first shipping company to perform a commercial shipment using B100.
The Nord Steel has a specialised MAN B&W engine that can run on biofuel and is not fitted with scrubbers.
