ExxonMobil supplies Hapag-Lloyd with B25 marine biofuel in Antwerp, Belgium

Hapag-Lloyd's vessel Colorado Express has successfully bunkered a B25 marine biofuel blend comprised of ExxonMobil’s Premium HDME 50™ fuel, a 0.10 percent sulfur emission-control area (ECA) fuel, and waste-based biodiesel derived from used cooking oil.

The drop-in blend met the requirements of ISO 8217:2017 with the exception of the fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) component.

The FAME content complied with EN 14214.

The bio component was made material certified as meeting the sustainability requirements of the RED II: feedstocks not in competition with land for food production.

ExxonMobil’s marine biofuel blend underwent a range of tests prior to delivery in Antwerp, Belgium.

The receiving vessel, which features a Wärtsilä 10RT-flex96C main engine, bunkered 1,320 metric tons of the blend.

The blend offered an estimated 20.1 percent well-to-wake greenhouse-gas (GHG) reduction compared with conventional marine fuel formulations on an energy basis.

“Hapag-Lloyd aims at having net-zero carbon fleet operations by 2045,” said Ilyas Muhammad, the head of green fuels at Hapag-Lloyd. “As part of that commitment, we are continuously looking for opportunities to onboard new bio blends in our fuels mix. We appreciate ExxonMobil’s efforts to supply us bio blend with ultra-low sulfur fuel oil (ULSFO), which is another step forward in our decarbonization journey.”

Nikolai Doerner, the senior manager for biofuels at Hapag-Lloyd, added, “We successfully bunkered the bio-ULSFO blend at our Colorado Express and so far our operational experience with this product is positive. We look forward to increasing bio-ULSFO consumption in the future.”

The Colorado Express used the marine biofuel blend without incident, and both NOx and particulate emissions were within accepted limits.

“ExxonMobil is looking for ways to support our customers [to] reduce their GHG emissions,” said Pelin Gillis, a marine fuels sales manager with ExxonMobil. “We are proud to have helped Hapag-Lloyd on their journey to a lower GHG-emissions future.”

Armelle Breneol, a marine fuels technical advisor for ExxonMobil, added, “ExxonMobil has greatly extended its range of drop-in bio marine fuel blends. We now offer a B25 ULSFO, a B30 VLSFO, a B7 MGO and a B10 HSFO. This will help our customers access the blend they need to meet their engine operations and GHG-emission reduction goals.”