Renewable diesel now powers all Svitzer tugboats in Port of Esbjerg, Denmark

Photo: Port of Esbjerg

To contribute to the decarbonization of shipping and the Port of Esbjerg’s ambition to be carbon neutral by 2030, Svitzer’s tugs operating in the Danish port changed to marine biofuel as of Feb. 1.

Photo: Svitzer

All Svitzer tugs are now powered by hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO), also known as renewable diesel.

As a result, Svitzer said customers using its towing services in and out of the port are now subject to the EcoBAF surcharge, which is short for Ecofriendly Bunker Adjustment Factor.

“At Svitzer, we are committed to decarbonizing our operations, which must be carbon neutral by 2040,” said Mathias Jonasson, the managing director of Svitzer Scandinavia.

“We can only achieve this ambition by working with like-minded partners and customers,” Jonasson said. “I’m both proud and excited that Port of Esbjerg and Grimaldi share our commitment to creating cleaner operations to benefit local communities and nature in Esbjerg and the West Coast of Jutland.” 

Port of Esbjerg CEO Dennis Pedersen added, “The Port of Esbjerg has signed up for the ‘Getting to Zero Coalition’ and thereby committed to becoming CO2 neutral by 2030, or in just five years. We have come far, but we depend on our customers transitioning to green biofuels to deliver on this ambition fully. We acknowledge that transitioning to biofuels comes with additional costs for our customers using our port facilities. But it is a necessary next step in the green transition. That’s why I’m very grateful that both Grimaldi and Svitzer understand this and will now use cleaner fuels.” 

Paul Kyprianou, external-relations manager for Grimaldi Group, a private-shipping company based in Italy, said, “The Grimaldi Group shares the goal of zero emissions and has made significant investments towards reaching this goal, including ordering almost 40 ships in the last seven years, with CO2 emissions halved compared to previous constructions. We consider the EcoBAF approach as an essential part of the decarbonization journey within shipping where our group plays a central role as one of the leading players in the industry.”