The M/V Torrens has become the first Wallenius Wilhelmsen vessel to bunker B30 high sulphur fuel oil (HSFO)-biofuel in South Korea.
The pure car and truck carrier (PCTC) was fuelled during a scheduled call at the Port of Masan as part of a trial in collaboration with GS Caltex, Wallenius Wilhelmsen said in a statement sent to Bunkerspot today (6 November).
A drop-in fuel which can be used in existing engines without any modification or tank cleaning, HSFO biofuel is an HSFO blended with UCOME (used cooking oil methyl ester).
‘Despite the growing demand and supply of biofuels around the world, the preparation of biofuels in Korean ports has been somewhat slow,’ said Jang Hongseok, Manager Energy Sourcing, Wallenius Wilhelmsen. ‘As Korea is one of our major bunkering ports, stable biofuel supply is essential to secure flexibility of tonnage allocation, so I am pleased to have a B30 HSFO trial with GS Caltex, one of Korea's major fuel suppliers, and I hope close cooperation will continue in the future.’
Commenting, Cha Hyungmin, Team Leader of GS Caltex Biofuel team, added: ‘GS Caltex has paved the way for developing bio-marine fuels in Korea, and we expect this B30 bio-marine fuel (HSFO) trial with Wallenius Wilhelmsen will be a meaningful step for scrubber installed vessels of global shipping companies to reduce their carbon emissions when calling Korean ports. We hope to expand the relationship with Wallenius Wilhelmsen and support as a carbon reduction solution partner in Korea.’
Wallenius Wilhelmsen highlighted that supply of biofuel will be ‘limited in Korea until the rules and regulations for biofuels are finalised by the authorities.’ In the meantime, the company says it is currently assessing the viability of both HSFO-biofuel blends and very low sulphur fuel oil (VLSFO)-biofuel blends in the Asia region as part of its global deep-sea trade decarbonisation strategy.
