Sulnox Group plc (Sulnox) on Monday (22 June) announced the signing of its largest commercial agreement to date with Singapore-based shipping firm Eastern Pacific Shipping (EPS). 

The new four-year agreement will significantly expand deployment of Sulnox Eco™ across the EPS fleet, increasing usage from approximately 30 vessels to more than 50 vessels. The agreement covers the supply of approximately 1.2 million litres of Sulnox Eco over the contract term and is accompanied by an increase in EPS Ventures’ strategic investment in Sulnox.

The agreement follows more than two years of operational deployment and validation across a range of vessel types, including container ships, bulk carriers, tankers and vehicle carriers. During this period, EPS reported fuel savings of between 3% and 5%, alongside reductions in visible black smoke emissions, cleaner engine conditions, lower sludge generation and improved fuel performance.

With a history spanning more than 60 years, EPS manages a fleet of more than 350 vessels across the container, tanker, dry bulk, gas and vehicle carrier sectors and has a global workforce of approximately 8,000. 

Since commencing its partnership with Sulnox, EPS has steadily expanded deployment of Sulnox Eco across its fleet and supported a range of technical validation initiatives. Among these was independent testing commissioned by EPS, which demonstrated lubricity improvements of between 20% and 23% in Low Sulphur Marine Gas Oil (LSMGO). The results provided additional evidence of Sulnox Eco’s ability to address lubricity challenges associated with lower-sulphur fuels while supporting engine protection and operational reliability.

As biofuel adoption continues to accelerate across the shipping industry, EPS has also reported positive results from the use of Sulnox Eco alongside biofuel blends. Operational experience and independent testing have indicated benefits relating to fuel stability, lubricity and engine cleanliness, helping support reliable vessel operations while optimising fuel performance. The wider fleet deployment will include newbuilds, reflecting confidence in Sulnox Eco’s ability to deliver operational benefits across both existing and newly delivered vessels.

The agreement also strengthens the strategic collaboration between the two companies. EPS will continue to support Sulnox’s research, development and validation programmes through operational testing and real-world deployment. Areas of collaboration are expected to include fuel efficiency optimisation, emissions reduction, biofuel performance and other technologies designed to support the maritime industry’s decarbonisation efforts.

Alongside the supply agreement, EPS Ventures will increase its strategic investment in Sulnox through the subscription of additional shares under the agreement. Subject to the relevant conditions being met, EPS Ventures’ shareholding is expected to increase from approximately 6.5% to 13.9%. The increased investment further aligns the interests of both organisations and reflects EPS’s confidence in Sulnox’s technology, commercial potential and long-term relevance to the maritime sector.

Ben Richardson, CEO of Sulnox, commented: “EPS has already proven to be much more than a customer. Its operational validation, technical expertise and industry introductions have helped accelerate our commercial development and strengthen our position within the global shipping sector.

“Moving from a successful evaluation programme and initial deployment to a major long-term agreement and increased shareholding endorses the value Sulnox Eco continues to deliver in real-world operations. We look forward to continuing to work closely with EPS as we expand adoption across the maritime sector and develop the next generation of efficiency and decarbonisation technologies.”

Sachin Saharawat, Technical Director, EPS, said: “Improving efficiency and reducing emissions remain key priorities for EPS. Over the past two years, Sulnox Eco has demonstrated measurable benefits across multiple vessel types, fuel applications and operating environments. Across different vessel segments and fuel types, we have observed consistent improvements in fuel performance, engine cleanliness and operational efficiency. 

“The expanded deployment reflects our confidence in the results achieved to date and our belief that practical, scalable technologies such as Sulnox Eco can play an important role in helping the shipping industry improve efficiency and support its decarbonisation ambitions.”

Photo credit: Eastern Pacific Shipping
Published: 23 June, 2026

A technical talk titled The Role of Innospec Additives in Supporting Decarbonization in the Marine Sector organised by The Joint Branch of RINA and IMarEST (Singapore) and sponsored by Innospec was held at Club@52 on Friday (25 July).

Max Fok, China & Singapore Marine Sales Manager and Market Specialist at Innospec, focused on the role of fuel additives in the shipping industry, addressing decarbonisation, sludge reduction, and fuel stability in his presentation.

He detailed the benefits of Innospec’s Octamar BT-25, a heavy fuel dispersant, stabiliser, and combustion improver which offers up to 60% sludge reduction.

“Thanks to IMO 2020, many shipping companies got to know additives more through the bunker tank cleaning period,” explained Mr Fok.

“Octamar BT-25 is our pioneering product specialising in sludge reduction and tank cleaning. It is so effective, IMO mentioned in their circulars that this additive can be used as a marine fuel tank cleaning option.”

He shared a case study to show the sludge reduction properties of Octamar BT-25.

“Our product offers up to 60% sludge reduction; in this case study we recorded a 46% decrease in sludge which is equivalent to 0.5% of Specific Fuel Oil Consumption (SFOC) improvement through stability alone,” he said.

“You can see the sludge produced for the base fuel without additives. For example, tank one is producing 0.25 m³ of sludge per day, and tank two is giving 0.4 m³ e per day. But with our additive, the sludge produced on tank three is less than 0.15 m³ per day.”

Moving forward, Mr Fok noted shipping’s decarbonisation has resulted in the increasing use of bio variants for Very Low Sulphur Fuel Oil (VLSFO) material as bunker fuel.

This development has resulted in different fuel behaviour of bio-VLSFO bunker stems due to varying feedstocks. Further, the situation could be even made worse due to suboptimal storage conditions.

“Fuel additives help maintain the fuel stability and prolonged storage of bio bunker fuel by eliminating microbial growth to keep the fuel system clean while improving combustion efficiency and offering fuel savings,” shared Mr Fok.

“So, using additives for biofuel can also give you a peace of mind on your expensive asset.”

Photo credit: Innospec
Published: 11 August 2025

International fuel additives company Infineum recently published an article on its Insight website on data from its combustion improver sea trials that demonstrate emissions and efficiency improvements along with a number of additional benefits these additives can deliver:

Ship operators are using fuel additives as a cost-effective way to help reduce fuel consumption as they work to cut running costs and emissions. But, their value goes way beyond these well-recognised attributes. In this article, Adrian Bourdeaux, Marine Fuels Technology Manager, shares the findings of recent evaluations at sea, carried out in a range of vessel types. These data not only confirm the emissions and efficiency improvement fuel additives can deliver to marine applications but also show how they can keep hardware clean and improve scrubber performance.

The maritime industry is working towards a net zero emissions future by 2050, where alternative fuels such as methanol, ammonia and hydrogen will be more widely used. However, in the transition period, conventional hydrocarbon fuels will continue to be the dominant marine fuel. To remain compliant with International Maritime Organization (IMO) regulations and to meet IMO net zero aspirations, while also cutting costs, ship operators and owners need to reduce emissions and improve efficiency today. These were some of the key drivers that prompted Infineum to develop novel combustion improver fuel additive technology.

Initially, our technologists put a significant amount of effort into static engine, no-harms, and field proof of concept testing – you can read more about the results here. This article goes on to describe how the results of this highly controlled development program have been replicated across multiple vessel and engine types and sizes in the last 18 months. In addition, it shows how this extensive testing has uncovered a number of other benefits combustion improver additives can deliver.

In our first trial, despite the adverse weather conditions encountered throughout the additised portion of the trial, we achieved a 1% specific fuel oil consumption (SFOC) saving and reduced emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx), and sulphur oxides (SOx) by 4% and 12% respectively.

Our technology has received the first ever Lloyd’s Register Fuel Additive Statement of Fact for improved SFOC, reduced NOx, and carbon monoxide (CO) emissions.

To some readers a 1% fuel efficiency gain might not sound like a huge improvement. But, as an example, it would mean a single vessel consuming 100 MT of fuel per day could gain a net annual saving of some $3 to 4 million*.

Encouraged by this strong performance, we have completed a series of successful field evaluations across a wide range of vessel types, including cruise liners, container ships, and bulk carriers. Building on this foundation, the technology is now being adopted more broadly, with several ongoing commercial deployments and new collaborations underway. Many of these initiatives are being driven by the additional operational and environmental benefits that are now consistently being demonstrated in real-world applications.

Infineum works hard to ensure that each field evaluation is as operationally controlled as possible, maintaining consistent speed, load, and other key parameters between baseline and additised phases. While each field evaluation differs in terms of vessel type, engine configuration, fuel quality, and operating environment, this variability has proven valuable. It demonstrates that, across a wide range of real-world conditions, we consistently observe improvements in SFOC.

In all our various sea trials the improved combustion has helped to reduce specific fuel oil consumption by between 1 and 3%.

Both our technical teams and our sea trial partners have been really pleased with the results we have obtained. Why? Because not only have our additives provided the expected fuel efficiency improvements but also they have delivered a number of other valuable benefits.

Note: The full article by Infineum can be read here. 

Photo credit: Venti Views on Unsplash
Published: 1 August, 2025