South Korean shipping company HMM to secure marine biofuel from biodiesel producer GS Caltex

From left, S.H. Lee, executive vice president of GS Caltex, and Jinki Park, senior executive vice president of HMM (Photo: HMM)

South Korean shipping company HMM has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with biodiesel producer GS Caltex to secure marine biofuels.

HMM also plans to conduct a trial use of the fuels on its three 24,000 twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEU) containerships in the second half of this year.

The marine biofuel contains 30 percent biodiesel derived from used cooking oil and 70 percent high-sulfur fuel oil (HSFO).

Biodiesel reduces greenhouse-gas emissions by 80 percent compared to conventional fuels.

Marine biofuels such as biodiesel-blended fuel oil are compatible with current ship engines without modification.

In 2021, HMM performed its first test voyage using marine biofuel on its 13,100 TEU containership.

The vessel, HMM Dream, deployed in East Coast 1 (EC1) service connecting Asia and the U.S. East Coast successfully completed the voyage in the Pacific Ocean.

“Based on this MOU, we expect to generate less greenhouse-gas emissions and thereby contribute to limiting climate change,” said Jinki Park, senior executive vice president of HMM. “We will continue to enhance our environmental competence by accelerating R&D activities.”