A Cosco Shipping Lines container ship has been bunkered with “sustainable marine biofuel” by TotalEnergies Marine Fuels in Singapore in the first operation of its kind for the Chinese vessel-owning giant.
The French major’s marine fuelling arm said it supplied very low sulphur fuel oil blended with 20% second-generation waste-based and certified used cooking oil methyl ester to the 4,250-teu Cosco Houston (built 2012) in a ship-to-ship operation on 11 July.
TMF said that from a well-to-wake assessment, the biofuel will reduce approximately 17% of greenhouse gas emissions compared with conventional fuel oil.
The biofuel was consumed during the container ship’s voyage to the Indonesian capital Jakarta.
TMF said the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore and tank storage company Vopak Terminals Singapore at Penjuru helped facilitate the bunkering first.
Laura Ong, who is TMF’s general manager of trading and operations for Asia Pacific, said the company was “honoured” to partner Cosco in its decarbonisation journey with the provision of its first biofuel bunker stem.
“This successful collaboration lays a foundation for both companies to explore new joint initiatives that promote the introduction of clean, low-carbon alternative fuels,” Ong said.
“This milestone bio-bunkering operation also further validates the important role of biofuels in decarbonising conventional marine fuels, and the potential GHG reduction gains it can bring to existing vessels.”
Ong said TMF will continue to scale up its biofuel capabilities and support “the growing interest for sustainable marine biofuels in this region”.
In 2022 TMF also supplied biofuel as bunkers to a Mitsui OSK Lines car and truck carrier and an NYK Line-chartered bulker.
