Marubeni conducts trial voyage of marine biofuel on ethylene carrier

Marubeni Corp. announced Oct. 12 that it has conducted a trial voyage on one of Marubeni’s chartered vessels using a marine biofuel blend, from Vlissingen, the Netherlands, to the U.S. in Morgan's Point, Texas.

The company stated that, to the best of its knowledge, this is the first biofuel supply to an ethylene carrier in the world.

The ethylene carrier GasChem Dollart was supplied Sept. 21 with B25 marine biofuel in Vlissingen, the Netherlands.

The marine biofuel consisted of approximately 25 percent fatty acid methyl ester (FAME), blended with very low sulfur fuel oil (VLSFO).

The biofuel blend was delivered at Vlissingen by BP Europa SE-BP Nederland, a subsidiary of BP.

GasChem Dollart, operated by GasChem Services, is on long-term time-charter to Marubeni.

The FAME component of the marine biofuel blend used in this trial led to a reduction in greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions from the voyage on a lifecycle, well-to-wake approach.

Biofuel blends are particularly helpful as a drop-in solution available to existing fleets without the need for modifications to the engine or infrastructure in most applications.

FAME, more commonly known as biodiesel, is often produced from recycled used cooking oils as well as other renewable-oil sources.

The origination and production of the FAME used in the trial is certified to the International Sustainability and Carbon Certification system—a leading multistakeholder certification scheme for biobased materials.

This certification requires that sustainability criteria are followed throughout the supply chain—including the tracing of the waste feedstock from point of generation, through processing, transportation and delivery of the final biofuel.

The voyage was aimed at understanding whether technical issues such as combustibility and stability arise when biofuel is used.

Marubeni is providing logistic service for ethylene transportation globally and is one of the biggest players in the global ethylene market.

This trial is one of the company’s steps to provide solutions to its customers to achieve decarbonization.

Marubeni stated that it will continue to develop further services to support its customer’s needs towards decarbonization.