SIMIC

Marcus Hand | Apr 15, 2021

The trial saw Goodfuels supply drop-in biofuels to be blended with conventional fuel oil onboard an Oldendorff Carrier bulker chartered by BHP.

While biofuels have already gained acceptance in a number of European ports it was the first such bunkering in Singapore, and GoodFuels first in Asia.

Related: Eastern Pacific conducts biofuel trial with GoodFuels

The trial aims to understand the behaviour and emissions from the biofuels used on the Oldendorff Kamsarmax

BHP’s Vice President of Maritime and Supply Chain Excellence, Rashpal Bhatti, said: “We strive hard to work with our customers, suppliers and other stakeholders along the value chain to influence emissions reductions across the full life cycle of our products and fully support moves to decarbonise the maritime industry.”

Related: Volkswagen partners GoodFuels to run biofuel roro operations

For GoodFuels it brings to fruition a number of years trying to break into the Singapore market. In 2017 GoodFuels, BHP and the Maritime & Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) entered into a Letter of Intent (LoI) collaborate on a marine biofuels pilot project.

Isabel Welten, Chief Commercial Officer at GoodFuels, said: “We are very excited about our first expansion into Singapore and the Asian market, especially since we have already identified Singapore as an important hub for many of our customers over the year. This trial marks the start of a process for GoodFuels of facilitating more structural supply of sustainable marine biofuels in Singapore, in a commercial, operational and technically feasible manner.” 

GoodFuels says the biofuel reduces CO2 emissions by 80-90% well-to-exhaust compared with HFO/VLSFO.

Capt Daknashamoorthy Ganasen, MPA’s Senior Director (Operations and Marine Services), said: “Singapore is committed to the environmental sustainability of the shipping industry. We welcome interested parties to cooperate on the research, development and piloting of clean marine fuels in reducing the impact of shipping on the environment.”