As the shipping industry continues to seek scalable alternatives to traditional marine fuels to help reduce emissions, the need to explore new blended fuels is becoming increasingly prominent. Currently, used cooking oil dominates in biofuel bunkering for ships, but due to limited supply, companies are investigating other waste-based feedstocks such as animal fats.

According to Reuters, on June 3, Australian mining giant BHP and the Singapore-based Global Centre for Maritime Decarbonisation (GCMD) stated in a joint announcement that they had successfully converted used cooking oil and waste animal fats into a blended biofuel and bunkered it onto a cargo vessel in a pilot project.

The British-flagged Newcastlemax bulk carrier Berge Lyngor (IMO: 9448011, 206,330 DWT, built 2009), on charter to BHP and owned and operated by Berge Bulk, is being used for this biofuel blend pilot project. The vessel is primarily engaged in transporting iron ore from Western Australia to China. In early May this year, it bunkered B100 biofuel blend in Singapore, containing 50% tallow biodiesel sourced and supplied by HAMR Energy, and 50% used cooking oil supplied by Mitsui & Co. Energy Trading Singapore.

BHP and GCMD stated that, compared with conventional Very Low Sulphur Fuel Oil (VLSFO), the use of this biofuel blend on a single voyage can reduce well-to-wake greenhouse gas emissions by approximately 79% .

The pilot project is necessary to evaluate the blending, handling, and use of biofuels derived from multiple feedstocks under real-world operating conditions. Challenges involved include fuel quality, operational handling, traceability, and actual onboard performance. The project will also assess potential issues that may arise when using biofuels made from different feedstocks, such as corrosion due to oxidation and fuel system blockages caused by wax formation.

It is expected that the project's findings will reveal the practical steps required to integrate biofuel blends from diverse feedstocks into existing supply chains—a development that could offer shipowners and operators greater fuel procurement flexibility.