Shipping company Finnlines on Thursday (22 May) launched a new Green Lane sea transportation service, which combines sustainability with efficient carriage of freight with two options for new low emission shipments – electricity or biofuels.

Green Lane shipments will provide customers an opportunity to meet increasingly stringent environmental requirements and to achieve ambitious energy saving targets.

The 100% electricity powered shipments will be the cleanest option on the sea transportation market. This service will be available on the busy Naantali–Kapellskär route, which is operated by Finnlines’ newest hybrid ro-pax ships Finnsirius and Finncanopus.

The ships’ 5 MWh batteries are charged with onshore power while at berth, and the energy is utilised at sea to replace fossil fuel, thus enabling green transportation for certain freight units.

Antonio Raimo, Line Manager at Finnlines, said: ”Our utmost goal is to reduce emissions and we are already seeing concrete results. With the introduction of our new vessels, Finnsirius and Finncanopus, we have entered the hybrid era and can now offer our customers even more efficient and sustainable sea transport services. 

“Although the cargo capacity of the vessels operating on the Naantali–Kapellskär route has increased significantly, yet absolute carbon dioxide emissions per nautical mile have decreased by 22%.”

The other Green Lane option utilises biofuels derived from renewable sources. The service will be available on short-sea shipping routes, which are of the utmost importance for the security of supplies in the Baltic Sea region, i.e. Naantali–Kapellskär, Malmö–Travemünde, Malmö– Świnoujście and Hanko–Gdynia.

By choosing the biofuel option, Finnlines commits to replacing the amount of fossil fuel needed for the transportation with biofuel. Use of biofuels can reduce well-to-wake greenhouse gas emissions of transport by up to 90% compared with conventional fossil fuels.  

”We want to offer our customers concrete solutions to help them achieve their  decarbonisation targets. Both solutions ensure low emissions – for example using biofuel can reduce carbon dioxide emissions by up to 700 kg per a trailer on the Hanko–Gdynia route,” says Merja Kallio-Mannila, Commercial Director at Finnlines.

The Green Lane will also be available for passengers on Finnlines’ passenger routes: Naantali–Långnäs–Kapellskär, Helsinki–Travemünde, Malmö–Travemünde and Malmö–Świnoujście. If passengers choose this option, Finnlines will consume renewable biofuels to replace the corresponding volume of fossil fuels and the emissions per a passenger on the route will decline.

The company has invested massively in enhancing energy efficiency and renewal of its fleet. During the last two decades Finnlines has ordered or purchased twenty vessels. The total investment has been nearly two billion euros.

In order to renew and upgrade the fleet, Finnlines has ordered three new methanol-powered vessels, which are expected to enter the route between Helsinki and Travemünde in 2028-2029.

The low-carbon Green Lane will be launched for freight customers and passengers on 22 May 2025.

Photo credit: Finnlines
Published: 23 May, 2025

Nippon Yuka Kogyo (Nippon Yuka), an NYK Group company specialising in chemical R&D as well as the manufacture and sale of chemical products, on Wednesday (21 May) announced the upcoming release of BioxiGuard, the Japan’s first antioxidant specially developed for marine biodiesel, from 10 August.

NYK said compared with conventional petroleum-based fuels, biofuel contains a higher proportion of unsaturated fatty acids, making it more susceptible to oxidative degradation. Once oxidised, the biofuel can produce acidic substances and sludge, adversely affecting vessel fuel efficiency by reducing the fuel’s calorific value.

Developed by Nippon Yuka based on property analyses of the biofuel used in NYK-operated vessels, BioxiGuard is specifically formulated to enhance the oxidation stability of biodiesel. When added to biofuel, BioxiGuard slows the progression of oxidative degradation and helps deter issues such as metal corrosion, strainer blockage, and cleaning-system fouling often triggered by oxidised fuel.

According to laboratory tests conducted by Nippon Yuka researchers, the addition of BioxiGuard at a concentration of 1 part per 500 resulted in an approximate 50% reduction in the rate of biofuel degradation compared to untreated biofuel. 

This significant improvement underscores the potential for vessel operators to not only extend the useful life of biofuel on board but also maintain more stable and cost-effective vessel operations.

Photo credit: NYK
Published: 22 May, 2025

United European Car Carriers (UECC) on Monday (19 May) said bunkering liquefied biomethane (LBM), also known as bio-LNG, will give it a significant compliance surplus under FuelEU that can be monetised through the regulation’s pooling mechanism.

UECC’s Senior Manager of Business Planning & Sustainability, Masanori Nagashima, said bio-LNG is now seen by the company as the key fuel to achieve its target of a 45% reduction in carbon intensity by 2030 versus a 2014 baseline and net zero by 2040 – ahead of the 2050 deadline set by both the IMO and EU.

The marine fuel is being bunkered on UECC’s dual and multi-fuel LNG PCTCs – three of which have battery hybrid capability – under Sail for Change that was launched by UECC last year and currently has participation by automotive giants including Toyota, Ford and JLR. 

The company also has on order two multi-fuel LNG battery hybrid newbuild PCTCs due for delivery in 2028 that could be enlisted into the programme. 

The overall carbon intensity of the UECC fleet, using the same gCO2e/MJ (grams of CO2 equivalent per megajoule) metric as FuelEU, is calculated at 68 gCO2e/MJ to achieve an interim target of a 25% carbon intensity reduction in 2025, though the company is expected to achieve 57 gCO2e/MJ this year based on its supply plan, according to Nagashima.

This is significantly below the current FuelEU threshold of 89.3 gCO2e/MJ – a 2% reduction from the baseline of 91.16 gCO2e/MJ – and still lower than the threshold of 77.9 gCO2e/MJ from 2035 that is a 14.5% reduction versus the baseline figure.

“The low carbon intensity of our fleet means all of our vessels are expected to gain a C rating or above with the IMO’s Carbon Intensity Indicator (CII)” Nagashima explained.

“It also gives us a significant compliance surplus under FuelEU that can be monetised through the regulation’s pooling mechanism, allowing a great commercial opportunity to offset regulatory costs for customers and eliminate FuelEU surcharges.”

“UECC will continue to accelerate its progress in improving decarbonisation of its fleet by further optimising our fuel mix strategy going forward to incorporate more high-impact fuels as these become viable.”

Photo credit: Titan Clean Fuels
Published: 22 May, 2025