Korea: HMM, GS Caltex begin pilot operation of boxship running bio bunker fuel
- Published
by Admin
South Korean oil refiner GS Caltex on Friday (15 September) said it launched a pilot operation of a container ship that runs on its bio bunker fuel in collaboration with Korea-based integrated logistics company HMM in Busan.
HMM’s 6,400 TEU containership HMM TACOMA was refuelled with GS Caltex’s B30 bio marine fuel and will depart from Busan to Singapore. It will operate along the India and South America route, GS Caltex said in a statement.
The B30 biofuel was manufactured based on heavy fuel oil and biodiesel made from waste cooking oil, GS Caltex said.
GS Caltex’s B30 bio marine fuel supplied for this pilot operation, is manufactured from GS Caltex marine heavy oil and marine biodiesel produced from waste cooking oil by DS Danseok, a domestic biofuel company.
Seung-Hoon Lee, Vice President of GS Caltex, said, “We are the first domestic oil refinery to produce biofuel and have started our first pilot operation. We plan to expand the supply of biofuel not only to domestic shipping companies but also to global shipping companies that refuel in Korean territorial waters to reduce carbon emissions in the shipping sector.”
HMM said, “We will continue to make efforts to reduce greenhouse gases through Korea’s first pilot operation of biofuel and we plan to become a global top-tier shipping company by strengthening eco-friendly competitiveness.”
In April, Manifold Times reported HMM signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with oil refiner GS Caltex to secure marine biofuels.
The marine biofuels comprise 30% biodiesel derived from used cooking oil and 70% high-sulphur fuel oil (HSFO).
In 2021, HMM performed the first test voyage using biofuels on its 13,100TEU containership. The vessel HMM Dream, deployed in EC1 (East Coast 1) service connecting Asia and the US East Coast, successfully completed the voyage in the Pacific Ocean.
Related: Korea: HMM signs MoU with GS Caltex to secure biofuel bunkers
Related: Hyundai Merchant Marine “HMM Dream” undergoes successful biofuel trial on genset
Photo credit: GS Caltex
Published: 18 September, 2023
