VPS: Biofuels poised as ‘immediate solution’ for maritime decarbonisation

While a multi-fuel future is an inevitable pathway towards shipping’s decarbonisation, biofuels offer a proven, cost-effective and readily available “drop-in” solution for the short to medium term, believes the President of Strategic Partnerships, VPS; IBIA Board Member & IBIA Asia Regional Board Chair.

Captain Rahul Choudhuri was amongst panellists of the Fuel of the Future and Forward Thinking: Gearing Up for a Sustainable and Skilled Maritime Industry panel at IBIA Annual Convention 2025 in Hong Kong on Wednesday (19 November) when he expressed strong optimism regarding biofuels, noting a significant shift in industry sentiment.

“We are very bullish on biofuels” he stated, pointing to Singapore’s achievement of supplying over 1 million metric tonnes (mt) of bio-blended bunker fuels this year [2025], surpassing Rotterdam.

He highlighted global biofuel supply, almost non-existent pre-COVID, is now approaching 2 million mt with adoption by approximately 100 shipowners across 100 ports – signaling widespread proof of concept.

A key example cited by Captain Choudhuri was the Global Centre for Maritime Decarbonisation (GCMD)’s LOTUS project, which involved a car carrier bunkering B24 biofuel monthly for six months.

“The comprehensive 70-page report on this project concluded that operations were absolutely smooth, with detailed inspections by Class NK and OEMs confirming no issues,” he informed.

“While some minor observations like increased acid numbers and yeast/fungi growth in untouched tanks were noted, these were within ISO specifications and provided valuable insights for better moisture control, offering useful indications for future operators.”

Captain Choudhuri also referenced Odfjell Tankers’ Bow Olympus product tanker which completed a cross-Atlantic voyage using B100 fuel without incident, achieving over 85% greenhouse gas (GHG) reductions.

“The moral of their story is ‘hey guys, we can actually meet the IMO 2050 target today with a biofuel which is a simple drop-in fuel without CAPEX and energy loss’,” he asserted, urging the industry to amplify such success stories.

Despite the clear evidence, Captain Choudhuri voiced concerns about the shipping industry’s reluctance to adopt the latest ISO 8217:2024 standard for biofuels, often sticking to older 2005 marine fuel quality standards. He described this as a “ridiculous situation” that hinders proper quality control for biofuels.

He further cautioned against the risks of using off-spec FAME (Fatty Acid Methyl Esters), emphasising the importance of the EN 14214 test method for B100 to prevent contaminants from the production process from entering the final fuel, which could lead to engine-related problems.

“I still continue to feel that biofuels, tend to be underestimated in terms of availability, cost, and its drop-in capabilities,” stated Captain Choudhuri.

“Knowing how cost conscious the shipping industry is, I believe biofuels represents the best bet in the short medium term; it’s a no-brainer.”

Photo credit: Manifold Times
Published: 28 November 2025