MOL Group, Trafigura sign MOU to establish marine biofuel supply system

Mitsui O.S.K. Lines Ltd., its wholly owned company MOL Chemical Tankers Pte. Ltd., leading commodity trading company Trafigura Pte Ltd., and its vessel fuel supply joint-venture company TFG Marine Pte Ltd, have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) this month for a joint study on the full-scale supply of biodiesel fuel for MOLCT-operated vessels in bunkering ports around the world. Based on the MOU, the companies will move forward with the study with the intention to establish a global supply of biodiesel fuel for MOLCT's operated fleet.

As a part of the joint study, the companies have conducted a sea trial using TFG Marine-supplied biodiesel fuel on the MOLCT-operated chemical tanker Niseko Galaxy. About 200 metric tons of biodiesel fuel was bunkered in the Port of Rotterdam, the Netherlands, in early March, with the sea trial completing as the vessel reached its journey off the U.S. Gulf Coast.

TFG Marine's biodiesel fuel supplied for the sea trial required no modifications to the vessel's diesel engine. The use of the marine biofuel is expected to achieve a 25 to 30 percent reduction in CO2 emissions on a mix of 30 percent biodiesel and 70 percent conventional heavy fuel oil.

Last June, the MOL Group announced a target of achieving net zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2050.

The group set the initiative to adopt clean alternative fuels to help achieve this target, positioning biodiesel as an effective alternative to fossil fuels. MOL and MOLCT are continually promoting the adoption of marine biofuel in a proactive manner, contributing to GHG emissions reduction in the process of ocean transport.