Langh Ship switches to marine biofuel on container vessel

Earlier this year, the Finnish Shipping company Langh Ship and long-term charterer Samskip began operating the container vessel Edith with biofuel yielding positive results. (Photo: Langh Ship)

After discussions between Langh Ship and the Dutch chartering Samskip on how to further reduce the environmental impact of its vessels, they agreed to switch to biofuel operations for the Langh Ship-owned 750 20-foot equivalent unit (TEU) container vessel Edith in January.

Biofuels are a key component in Samskip’s strategy for decarbonizing its shipping activities.

Edith is currently employed on a shortsea-liner service between the Netherlands and the U.K.

The transition to biofuel brings many benefits.

Last autumn, the International Maritime Organization introduced new carbon-intensity measures to improve the short-term energy efficiency of vessels and reduce their greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions.

A carbon-intensity indicator (CII) must be calculated and reported, determining the annual reduction factor needed to ensure the continuous improvement of a ship’s operational carbon intensity.

Laura Langh-Lagerlöf, managing director of Langh Ship, said the transition to biofuel will have a decisive impact to comply with the new IMO regulations.

“We used to operate the vessel on low-sulfur intermediate fuel oil, IFO 80,” she said. “A main advantage of changing to biofuel is that it generates no fossil carbon emissions. Therefore, we are able to comply with the new CII-regulations.”

Erik Hofmeester, Samskip’s head of fleet management for vessels, added, “Samskip is committed to achieving its sustainability targets as outlined in our latest sustainability report. We have always practiced what we have preached because sustainability is in our DNA, and we are invested in the future—the future for green logistics, our planet, our economy and next-generation seafarers. The use of biofuels today is instrumental for achieving such goals and Samskip will continue to be at the cutting edge of such initiatives.”

Another benefit of the clean and completely sulfur-free biofuel is a reduced need for maintenance on the fuel system and that the lubricating oil stays cleaner.

“The feedback from the vessel has been nothing but positive,” Langh-Lagerlöf said. “Generally, we think that the maintenance costs for the main engine will decrease due to cleaner fuel. We expect less wear on cylinder barrels and the piston-ring area, but this can of course be verified only later through experience.”

Last, but not least, Langh-Lagerlöf stressed the importance of improving the environmental performance of vessels in many ways.

“We think it is essential to have many alternative ways of tackling CO2 emissions,” she said. “Biofuel allows ship owners to reduce the environmental impact by not having to invest in modifications to the vessel engine room and funnel area. But since biofuel is a limited resource, it is good to look into parallel solutions as well, such as exhaust-gas treatment and carbon capture.”

Following biofuel trials in 2019, Samskip has gradually increased the number of ships in its fleet running the main engines with biofuel. Including Edith, there are now five vessels in the Samskip fleet operating on biofuel. Bunkering of all vessels takes place in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.

The fuel used is designated MDF1-100 and supplied by GoodFuels.

It is formulated entirely from sustainable waste streams from the EU’s Renewable Energy Directive list. It has also earned International Sustainability and Carbon Certification.

“Reducing environmental impact is important to us, and we are glad to cooperate with Langh Ship in these matters,” said Rene van Wijngaarden, manager of vessel chartering and bunkering of Samskip. “With Edith’s transition to biofuel, we are able to lower the overall carbon footprint of our transports even further.”