Bureau Veritas issues new ‘Biofuel Ready’ notation to support wider deployment of marine biofuel

Bureau Veritas, a world leader in testing, inspection and certification, has released a new “Biofuel Ready” notation to support the wider deployment of biofuels in the shipping industry. This notation will help the maritime industry address the main challenges related to the use of biofuels by ships, providing requirements to ensure ship safety and environmental compliance.

The notation aims at helping shipowners to be prepared for the use of biofuels or biofuel blends. It provides a set of requirements and outlines a comprehensive methodology for the required documentation and testing, taking into account the fuel’s technical specifications.

The “Biofuel Ready” notation certifies that the conditions to use biofuel onboard a ship have been successfully met—and any testing to check NOx emissions (if applicable) has been completed satisfactorily. The notation can be applied to both new and existing ships.

Bureau Veritas expects that this new notation will enable shipowners to take advantage of their preliminary work with the use of biofuels, while also helping them to be prepared in order to obtain flag-administration acceptance with regards to MARPOL* Annex VI requirements on NOx emissions.

“As one of the few fuel options available today to reduce greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions from existing fleets, the use of biofuels by the shipping industry is growing rapidly,” said Laurent Leblanc, senior vice president of technical and operations at Bureau Veritas. “I am proud that we can now help shipowners deploy these innovative fuels on their vessels, while ensuring that all safety and regulatory requirements are met. This new notation is an important addition to the existing toolbox on the road to the International Maritime Organization’s 2030 and 2050 GHG and carbon-reduction targets. It is also an example of our continued commitment to supporting our clients on their decarbonization journey, by providing the independent expertise and validation that helps the industry safely progress innovative solutions.”

This new BV notation was developed in collaboration with different maritime stakeholders, including ship owners and engine manufacturers, building on BV’s expertise across the value chain.

“Biofuel Ready” is the latest example of how Bureau Veritas is helping the industry address the challenges of sustainability and the energy transition by providing rules and guidelines to meet the safety, risk and performance requirements for innovation in future fuels and propulsion systems.

This comes shortly after the latest meeting of the IMO’s Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC 78) has approved an interpretation of regulation 18.3 of MARPOL Annex VI aimed at clarifying and streamlining the use of biofuels in the maritime industry.

This interpretation has now been included in a further revision of MEPC.1/Circ.795 (i.e. MEPC.1/Circ.795/Rev.6), which has been recently published by the IMO.

*MARPOL is the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships.