Biofuel test for Stena bulk tanker

The fuel is the MR1-100 bio-fuel oil, produced from used cooking oil and supplied by GoodFuels
in Rotterdam in the Netherlands. The 183m IMOIIMAX Stena Immortal was docked in the port of Rotterdam as 250 tonnes of the fuel was pumped on board. The trial run will take place over ten days as the vessel continues her normal schedule and operations.

“By doing this test we want to contribute to push the industry and pave way towards more sustainable shipping,” said Erik Hånell, president and chief executive of 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,” he added.

Biofuels are compatible with regular fuels but produced from biomass or biowaste instead of fossil oil. Whilst there are many kinds, Stena Bulk is using only second generation fuel which is based on waste and does not compete with food production.

The reduction of CO2 by using this particular biofuel is around 83% and Stena Bulk expects to reduce emissions by 690mt during the course of the trial. As well as contributing to a large reduction in greenhouse gas emissions the fuel also emits significantly lower levels of SOX than regular compliant fuels.