Stena Bulk to Run MR Tanker on 100% Biofuel

Swedish based tanker shipping company Stena Bulk will become the latest to run a ship on biofuel as owners and operators explore alternative fuels to help slash emissions.

During the coming weeks, Stena Bulk will perform a test running MR tanker Stena Immortal on 100% MR1-100 bio-fuel oil, produced from used cooking oil and supplied by GoodFuels in Rotterdam.

The clean fuel made from used cooking oil has been bunkered onto the Stena Immortal and will be used to power the main engine in normal operations to test and prove the technical and operational feasibility, Stena Bulk said.

“By doing this test we want to contribute to push the industry and pave way towards more sustainable shipping,” said Erik Hånell, President and CEO Stena Bulk. “We want to be able to offer our customers additional options with less environmental impact in the future and by conducting the trial in normal operations we want to show that being sustainable doesn't have to interfere with core business.”

Stena Immortal biofuel bunkering (Photo: Stena Bulk)

Biofuels are compatible with regular fuels but produced from biomass or biowaste instead of fossil oil. While there are many kinds of biofuel, Stena Bulk said it is only using second generation fuel, meaning they are based on waste and thereby do not compete with food production.

The reduction of CO2 by using this particular biofuel is around 83%. In this trial we will reduce the emissions with 690 mt. These figures are from a lifecycle perspective, i.e. including production and distribution of the fuel. Apart from contributing to a large reduction in greenhouse gas emissions the fuel also emits significantly lower levels of SOX than regular compliant fuels.

Several other shipping companies, including Norden, CMA CGM, Jan De Nul, Boskalis, Jumbo and UECC, have also experimented with biofuels.