Stena Bulk and Goodfuels complete successful trial of marine biofuel

In March, Stena Immortal received the first delivery of biofuel oil during its call at the Port of Rotterdam. Over the course of the trial, biofuel was tested in tanks, storage and burned in the engines.

Stena Bulk deemed the trial a success, adding that it showed that low-carbon shipping is viable in the near future.

Stena Bulk president and chief executive Erik Hånell said “We would like to show the industry we can start reducing the carbon footprint of shipping now while maintaining the highest quality technical and commercial operations. Stena Immortal performed very well running on the biofuel while continuing to deliver according to our customers’ needs without any disruption.”

Mr Hånell emphasised that collaboration between companies is needed for the industry’s decarbonisation efforts to work.

"The industry needs pioneers willing to collaborate, share knowledge and push the development towards more sustainable shipping,” he said.

Goodfuels Marine chief executive Dirk Kronemeijer said “We are delighted this test with Stena Bulk was a success and want to thank them for joining us in our mission to develop a carbon-busting solution that is scalable, truly sustainable, technically compliant and, crucially, affordable.”

The companies said they will continue working together to gain more experience and scale the use of biofuel oil as an alternative to fossil fuels.

Biofuels are emerging as a commercially viable alternative to conventional fuels. This month, German ship management company Minship said its bulk carrier MV Trudy, successfully bunkered biofuel at the Port of Rotterdam and VTT Technical Research Centre, a Finnish research institute said it will co-ordinate a project exploring the use of biomass fuel oils.

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