MOL readies to trial biofuel on Panamax bulker

MOL Drybulk, a group company of Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL), will start sea trials of Panamax bulk carrier, chartered from ship owner Chugoku Sougyo, using biofuel in late June.

For this trial, MOL signed a deal for biofuel supply with Chevron Singapore. Under the deal, about 500 tons of International Sustainability & Carbon Certification (ISCC) certified biofuel will be bunkered on the vessel at the Port of Singapore.

The biofuel supplied by Chevron Singapore is blended with Used Cooking Oil Methyl Ester as 20% to 24% component in the very low sulfur fuel oil (VLSFO).

As explained, this biofuel can be used on vessels without changing engine specifications and is expected to decrease approximately 15% to 20% of exhausted CO2 based on lifecycle analysis.

In June 2021, MOL Group revealed its new environmental strategy, MOL Group Environmental Vision 2.1, positioning biofuel as an effective alternative to fossil fuels.

Soon after publishing the revised strategy, MOL’s wholly-owned subsidiary Euro Marine Logistics N.V. conducted sea trials of its operated car carrier, the City Of Oslo, using biofuel.

Earlier this year, bunkering vessel Techno Star, owned by MOL Techno-Trade, was successfully operated using biodiesel fuel (BDF) supplied by Aburatou Shoji K.K.

At the end of March, Japanese MOL and its group company MOL Ferry completed the country’s first sea trial of a large ferry using renewable diesel fuel.

The shipping company and its unit MOL Chemical Tankers (MOLCT) also signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Trafigura and TFG Marine for a joint study on the full-scale supply of BDF for MOLCT-operated vessels in bunkering ports around the world.