Dutch producer GoodFuels Marine is plotting to supply vessels with biofuel produced from cooking oil, household waste and forest residue using its own Coca-Cola-style secret recipe.
The company has been developing eco-fuels since 2015 and has carried out trial voyages using Norden and Samskip vessels.
CEO Dirk Kronemeijer told TradeWinds their products have undergone two years of testing, but it was not easy finding someone to take a chance on its new heavy fuel oil equivalent.
He said: "Potential shipping clients wanted 500 to 1,000 engine tests done before they would commit, which we just couldn't afford.
"It was very difficult to find a guinea pig. But then we ran into Norden and its great CEO Jan Rindbo, who said, okay, I am ready to take the plunge, but if we do it, I want you to sign a contract giving us a supply for bulkers for years to come."
He added: "The test was really, really successful; it did everything we knew it could do from shore tests."
"We are super-excited about this and believe it will be a game-changer."
Two shipping clients have now signed contracts. Some big names are interested and cargo owners are also involved.
But the company can't reveal who until January or February due to confidentiality agreements.
Kronemeijer said: "We are ramping up capacity all the time. We have tens of thousands of tonnes available for next year, which has sold out."
It has a Rotterdam plant partially backed by Vitol's Varo Energy.
Big expansion plans
The ultimate plan is to have millions and millions of tonnes available.
GoodFuels supplied a Samskip containership for a voyage in September with an MGO equivalent, but this is more expensive.
"We have now made a breakthrough on price through developing a heavy fuel oil equivalent," the CEO said.
The price is commercially sensitive, but he added: "There is still a premium, but it has been reduced and we are more and more in the ballpark of the benchmark LSFO price.
Recycled cooking oil is only the start as it works on sourcing feedstock from household rubbish and forest residue.
Kronemeijer explained: "Think of a tree. The good stuff goes to Ikea to make furniture, and the leaves and branches we make into fuel.
"It's not super hi-tech, it's just a question of the right upgrading, the right additives, the right blend.
"So we have a secret cooking recipe, which is more Coca-Cola than high-tech refining."
Norden's Rindbo said last week the scheme is carbon-neutral.
Its test voyage took place using the 37,000-dwt product tanker Nord Highlander (built 2007) in September.
The vessel travelled from Rotterdam to Tallinn in Estonia.
