The Capesize bulker ‘Friendship’, owned by Seanergy Maritime and chartered by NYK, has collaborated with mining company Anglo American to complete a trial using bio-fuel to transport cargo.
This is the fourth successful trial use of bio-fuel by NYK , the second in cooperation with Anglo American and the first with Seanergy Maritime.
Bio-fuels are considered to be carbon-neutral because the CO2 that is absorbed by the source of the biomass is equal to the CO2 that is released when the fuel is burned. With increasing demands for reducing greenhouse gases emitted from ships by oceangoing shipping around the world, biofuels are currently attracting attention as an alternative fuel for ships to replace HFO. Although biofuels emit CO2 during combustion, the plants used as raw materials absorb CO2 and reproduce biomass, so carbon emissions during direct combustion are considered to be practically zero.
In this test voyage, the vessel was fuelled with bio-fuel by TotalEnergies Marine Fuels at the port of Singapore in January 2022, and a test voyage was completed on two-way voyage between Singapore and Saldanha Bay. As a result, the trial showed that the bio-fuel can result in up to 10% CO2 emission reduction, when compared with conventional marine fuel.
The NYK Group has set a long-term target of net-zero emissions of greenhouse gas (GHG) by 2050 for the NYK Group’s oceangoing businesses and has positioned biofuels as an effective alternative to heavy oil for vessels. And the Group is actively conducting test runs.
