German liner Hapag-Lloyd has launched the trial of B20 fuel, a combination of low sulphur fuel oil (LSFO) and bio-diesel based on cooking oil, on its 4,400 teu panamax containership Montreal Express. Many other shipping lines such as Norden, CMA CGM and Maersk are also carrying out their own biofuel experiments at the moment.

The Hapag-Lloyd vessel was refuelled in Rotterdam with the eco-friendly biofuel, which consists of 80% low sulphur fuel oil and 20% biodiesel based on cooking oils and fats that had previously been used in the food service industry. The company claims that the biodiesel generates up to 90% less CO2 emissions than conventional fuels.

Hapag-Lloyd said that it intends to use the test run with the vessel, which operates between Europe and Canada, to gain experience and information on the properties of the fuel in real-world use.

“By the end of this year, we want to have reduced our specific CO2 emissions by 50 percent compared to the reference year 2008. Biofuels like ‘B20’ can help us reach this target. This is because, in addition to having a low sulphur content, the fuel also emits less climate-damaging CO2 during combustion,” said Jörg Erdmann, senior director of sustainability management at Hapag-Lloyd.