Hapag-Lloyd secures B30 biofuel

Energy company Mabanaft has reached an agreement with Hapag-Lloyd to supply the B30 biofuel. A first test delivery of 1,000 tonnes of B30 VLSFO from the Mabanaft tank farm Waltershof was scheduled for 12 December in the Port of Hamburg for the container ship Delaware Express.

Before delivery, Mabanaft carried out an extensive analysis of possible bio-components to add to the biofuel B30, examining the options for quality and potential for reducing greenhouse gases. 

The agreement with Hapag-Lloyd initially covers a delivery of 1,000 tonnes of B30. Further volumes could follow in 2025.

"The demands on the shipping sector to fill up with cleaner fuels will continue to increase in the coming years," said Mabanaft head of marine fuels & industry Helmut Oldekamp. "We are prepared for this and will support our customers in the best possible way with solutions for the energy transition."

With the B30 biofuel, Mabanaft can supply a fuel that can also be used without adapting the engines and can therefore reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the short term.

"We are very pleased Mabanaft is making biofuels available in the Port of Hamburg. Collaboration between suppliers and buyers, as well as the implementation of field tests, will help to further improve the availability of biofuels. By 2045, we want to achieve net-zero fleet operations – biofuels will play an important role in this," said Hapag-Lloyd senior director global fuel purchasing Jan Christensen.

A statement from Mabanaft said, “So far, the Port of Hamburg has played only a subordinate role in the business with bunker fuels such as B30”.

Important hubs for handling B30 have so far been Rotterdam and Singapore.

"We now want to change that," affirms Mabanaft senior trader marine fuels Michael Wiring. "The agreement with Hapag-Lloyd is a great opportunity to make more B30 biofuels available in Hamburg in the future."