Capital Ship Management, Lloyd’s Register explore use of marine biofuel in pilot research project

Photo: Capital Ship Management Corp.

Capital Ship Management and Lloyd’s Register will trial the use of marine biofuel in a new pilot project to support the maritime industry’s research for low- to zero-carbon fuels in line with the International Maritime Organization’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions-reduction targets. The trial will test biofuel-blended marine fuel on Capital managed 300,000 deadweight tonnage crude tanker Apollonas.

Evangelos Marinakis, chairman, Capital Maritime and Trading (center), with Mark Darley, marine and offshore director with LR (right), and Philippa Charlton, chief marketing officer, LR (Photo: Capital Ship Management Corp.)

As part of the project, LR Maritime Performance Services team will facilitate the risk assessment of the operational impact of biofuel, orchestrate the development, implementation and calculation of the emissions-monitoring program as well as provide overall third-party verification of the trial. LR’s Fuel Oil Bunker Analysis Service will also carry out the biofuel quality assessment and characterization to cover all aspects of the new fuel management.

“There is a keen interest in the shipping industry to learn more about the use of biofuels as we navigate the IMO’s GHG ambitions, specifically the potential for emissions reduction, compatibility with existing bunkering technologies and associated costs,” said Nick Brown, CEO of Lloyd’s Register. “We are delighted to be working with Capital on this pilot project to test the safe use of biofuels in shipping. We hope to build on years of experience and utilize unmatched expertise and analytical capabilities in fuel testing to advance the wider industry’s search for low- to zero-carbon fuels and technologies.”

Nikolaos Vaporis, chief technical officer for Capital, said, “We support research on various decarbonization solutions such as the use of biofuels, as part of our commitment to contribute to the industry’s carbon footprint reduction, in line with the IMO GHG emissions reduction agenda. We are especially pleased to participate in this project, as it is an opportunity to work with LR and remain at the forefront of environmental innovation.”