Charterers looking to slash CO2 emissions from offshore operations will now have an option to use biofuel blends in offshore supply vessels (OSVs) chartered from Maersk Supply Service
The Danish OSV owner said it would offer a new service called Eco Offshore by Maersk Supply Service which would allow charterers to use blends of low-carbon biofuel with marine gasoil (MGO) to reduce their carbon footprint.
“This gives us the ability to offer carbon-reduced operations to our customers through the use of sustainable green biofuels,” Maersk Supply Service chief executive Mark Handin told OSJ. Mr Handin said the process will be completely transparent and flexible, allowing the charterer to choose the amount of biofuel blend, with CO2 reductions certified independently by a third-party auditor. Charterers will receive a CO2 reduction certificate. “It’s very flexible and clients can choose the participation level to match their budgets and decarbonisation ambitions”.
With the urgency to decarbonise offshore operations, Mr Handin emphasised the service offered the opportunity to significantly and quickly reduce CO2 emissions without substantial capex.
Biofuel trials
Eco Offshore by Maersk Supply Service grew out of biofuel trials conducted by the Danish OSV owner in 2021. During those trials, hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) was burned in anchor handling tug supply vessel Maersk Tender during its six-week charter with Dutch start-up The Ocean Cleanup.
During an ocean-cleaning charter in the Pacific Ocean, a blend of 15% HVO and 85% low sulphur MGO was used, leading to carbon emissions savings of 38.95 tonnes for the six-week charter, according to Maersk Supply Service. The OSV owner said the trial confirmed the biofuel as a viable alternative that does not compromise on safety or performance nor does it require additional vessel upgrades. Maersk Supply Service said the DP-2 class anchor handler did not encounter any engine maintenance issues during the biofuel trials. Maersk Tender is equipped with two four-stroke MAN 8L27/38 and two MAN 7L27/38 main engines.
Mr Handin said the HVO will be procured through Maersk Oil Trading and is certified by the Cologne-based environmental organisation International Sustainability and Carbon Certification (ISCC), ensuring its quality. He said blends of up to 30% of HVO would be offered.
HVO is produced using waste material such as used cooking oil as feedstocks and are certified by ISSC or the Roundtable on Sustainable Biofuels. Relative to marine diesel, these biofuels reduce carbon emissions by 100% on a tank-to-wake basis and about 90% on a well-to-wake basis.
Rolling out biofuel across the fleet
Maersk Supply Service will eventually rollout biofuel across its global fleet, passing on the CO2 reductions to charterers opting for Eco Offshore by Maersk Supply Service. “We are procuring a fairly significant stockpile for use, with an initial focus in the North Sea”, said Mr Handin.
While the biofuel has showed promising results in cutting CO2 emissions in offshore and deepsea vessel trials, one of the drawbacks is its price, much like other alternative fuels; it can be multiple times more expensive than MGO, depending on where it is procured and delivered. Ship& Bunker reported MGO in Rotterdam was selling at US$1,080 per tonne as of 13 September 2022.
“There is a premium with this, there’s no doubt about it,” said Mr Handin, “but we can do it on a blended basis, making it manageable”.
Eco Offshore by Maersk Supply Service is part of an overarching strategy by Maersk as an organisation to be climate neutral by 2040. Mr Handin noted that Eco Offshore by Maersk Supply Service took inspiration from similar programmes at its sister organisation Svitzer, and parent AP Møller Maersk.
Svitzer launched Ecotow, a new towage solution using HVO to customers in 2021, offering a 90% CO2 reduction in Scope 3 emissions from their towage operations.
Meanwhile, AP Møller-Maersk offers Eco Delivery, which certifies CO2 reductions to shippers, providing documentation of how many tonnes of CO2 emissions were saved annually, the amount of green fuels used and CO2 emissions saved on a well-to-wheel and tank-to-wheel basis.
Such data will support charterers efforts to reduce their Scope 3 emissions and provide ESG transparency.
Biofuels are just one of the technologies being used by Maersk Supply Service to halve its carbon emissions by 2030 and become carbon-neutral by 2040. It is taking “an every step matters” approach, said Mr Handin, including the installation of batteries, use of shore power, variable frequency drives, selective catalytic converters, vessel optimisation tools and behavioural changes among its crew.
These strategies were highlighted in a whitepaper, The 10 Principles to Decarbonise the OSV Industry, which was detailed by Mr Handin at the Annual Offshore Support Journal Conference in London in June 2022. Maersk Supply Service took home the Shipowner of the Year Award and ESG Award at the event.
Mr Handin concluded that Eco Offshore by Maersk Supply Service “is one more tool in the toolkit. There may come a day when we have a next generation OSV, which has the technology on board that can dramatically change the way we power the vessels. But in the meantime, we think these sustainable green fuels can play a big role in decarbonisation, acting like a bridge to the future”.
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