TotalEnergies bunkers Hapag Lloyd’s boxship with biofuel in Singapore

Energy company TotalEnergies Marine Fuels has completed its first refuelling of a Hapag-Lloyd container vessel in Singapore with sustainable marine biofuel.

As part of this milestone operation, Hapag-Lloyd’s 15,000 TEU container vessel, Afif, took on 2,000 MT of biofuel on 20 January 2023.

The ship-to-ship biofuel transfer was made possible with the services rendered by Jurong Port Universal Terminal Pte (JPUT). JPUT also took on 100 percent used cooking oil methyl ester (UCOME) bio-component into their storage tanks for the first time, which further underscores the significance of this operation.

This inaugural bunker operation marks the start of a term supply agreement between the two companies, which commits TotalEnergies to provide very low sulfur fuel oil (VLSFO) blended with 24% second-generation, waste-based and ISCC-certified UCOME to Hapag-Lloyd’s fleet.  

Based on a well-to-wake assessment, this B24 biofuel blend is expected to reduce approximately 20% of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions compared with conventional fuel oil.

“We are very pleased with the cooperation with TotalEnergies for the supply of biofuel in Singapore. This is another early step for Hapag-Lloyd on our decarbonization journey. In combination with other green fuels, biofuel will play an important role towards a carbon-free environment by 2045,” Jan Christensen, Senior Director, Global Fuel Purchasing of Hapag-Lloyd, said.

“Consistent supply of biofuel in Singapore will allow us to offer sustainable transportation solutions to our customers, thereby supporting them in their efforts to reduce their carbon footprint.”

“As the largest independent petroleum storage terminal in Asia, JPUT has been working on several new initiatives on low-carbon fuels for the last two years. We are glad to be able to bring this UCOME initiative to the market in record time, thanks to the close collaboration with TotalEnergies,” Loh Wei, Chief Executive Officer of Jurong Port Universal Terminal, added.

“We are excited to support Hapag-Lloyd’s decarbonization strategy with the development of this new supply chain for marine biofuels. It underlines both companies’ long-term collaboration to explore and develop initiatives that promote the introduction of clean, low-carbon alternative fuels,” Louise Tricoire, Vice President of TotalEnergies Marine Fuels, commented.

“Importantly, this biofuel bunker term contract also ushers a new chapter for TotalEnergies Marine Fuels, as we build on our operational expertise gained from multiple biofuel bunker trials we have done in 2022, to provide a scalable solution of this lower-carbon marine fuel.”

In September last year, TotalEnergies completed the refuelling of a CMA CGM containership in Singapore with sustainable marine biofuel.

The operation followed biofuel bunkering trials that TotalEnergies Marine Fuels performed in Singapore with a COSCO Shipping Lines containership, a vehicle carrier operated by Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd. (MOL) and a bulk carrier chartered by NYK Line.