Bunker One supplies B30 marine biofuel to TUI Cruises vessel for Arctic voyage

Photo: TUI Cruises

Bunker One has conducted the first bunkering of marine biofuel for TUI Cruises’ Mein Schiff 4 at the Port of Aarhus in Denmark as part of a northern voyage beyond the Barents Sea to the islands of Svalbard, a Norwegian archipelago in the Arctic Ocean.

A gasoil blend containing 30 percent second-generation fatty acid methyl ester (FAME), also known as biodiesel, was bunkered by trucks under guidance from Bunker One’s technical experts to ensure a smooth bunkering experience.

“We understand that unique challenges sometimes require special solutions,” said Peter Zachariassen, CEO of Bunker One. “At Bunker One, we are fully committed to proactively facilitating deliveries of any low-carbon products as per our customer’s preferred choice.”

Bunker One said it has extended experience advising maritime clients on conventional and low-carbon fuel solutions as a global one-stop shop.

According to TUI Cruises, the biodiesel portion of the fuel blend was produced mainly from used cooking oil.

“This fuel is almost free of sulfur oxides and in its pure form offers a CO2 reduction of up to 90 percent compared to fossil fuels,” TUI Cruises stated.

Testing of the marine biofuel on Mein Schiff 4 is another milestone in TUI Cruises’ new 2030 sustainability strategy, the company said.

By 2030, the cruise lines of the TUI Group aim to reduce their CO2 emissions by 27.5 percent compared to 2019.

“They are the first in the cruise industry to have their climate targets checked and validated by the Science Based Targets initiative,” TUI Cruises stated. “No other cruise line in the world is currently committed to such an absolute, strictly controlled climate-protection goal.”

The company intends to achieve this goal by using shore power, clean fuels, increasing energy efficiency (e.g., through environmentally friendly underwater silicone coatings and reducing the average speed, or “slow steaming”), as well as other measures.

“The completed test phase on board Mein Schiff 4 is extremely important for us and the climate goals that have been set,” said Lucienne Damm, the head of sustainability at TUI Cruises. “This is because the biofuels can be used directly in the ship’s engines without costly conversion or conversion measures. This shows once again that we are not only investing in more sustainable cruises with our newbuilds such as Mein Schiff 7 and the eighth ship, but are also making every adjustment to the existing fleet to become better and even more climate-friendly.”