United Euro­pean Car Car­ri­ers (UECC) Spear­heads Col­la­bo­ra­ti­on with Indus­try Lea­ders to Advan­ce CNSL as a Sus­tainable Mari­ne Fuel

As part of this part­ner­ship, ACT Group crea­ted a CNSL-based bio­fuel known as FSI.100, demons­t­ra­ting their com­mit­ment to inno­va­ti­on and sus­taina­bi­li­ty. This was achie­ved through a rigo­rous deve­lo­p­ment pro­cess, which included exten­si­ve engi­ne test­ing and a meti­cu­lous­ly con­trol­led sup­p­ly chain, ear­ning the trust of UECC. Fol­lo­wing tho­rough test­ing on various blend com­bi­na­ti­ons FSI.100 recei­ved appr­oval from engi­ne manu­fac­tu­r­ers as a 30% blend com­po­nent in an ISO 8217 DMA gra­de distil­la­te fuel oil to car­ry out sea tri­als, repre­sen­ting a signi­fi­cant stri­de in the pro­gres­si­on of sus­tainable mari­ne fuels.

FSI.100 addres­ses con­cerns about the popu­la­ri­ty and sui­ta­bi­li­ty of CNSL-based bio­fuels. It also offers com­pel­ling advan­ta­ges: a cer­ti­fied sus­tainable, ful­ly con­trol­led sup­p­ly chain that ensu­res tracea­bi­li­ty and accoun­ta­bi­li­ty from the point of ori­gin to extra­c­tion, con­ver­si­on, and con­sump­ti­on. This approach enhan­ces con­fi­dence in CNSL-derived mari­ne fuels, redu­ces was­te, and pro­mo­tes resour­ce effi­ci­en­cy, alig­ning with cir­cu­lar eco­no­my prin­ci­ples in the mari­ti­me sec­tor. Addi­tio­nal­ly, FSI.100 uti­li­zes sus­tainable land use prac­ti­ces and exhi­bits high-quality mari­ti­me fuel pro­per­ties, such as ultra-low sul­fur and win­ter spec pour points. It also deli­vers signi­fi­cant green­house gas savings, with well-to-wake emis­si­ons reduc­tions of 90% (9.50gCO₂eq/MJ) com­pared to con­ven­tio­nal mari­ti­me fuels.

UECC reco­gni­zes the importance of this tho­rough eva­lua­ti­on and trans­pa­ren­cy in sus­tainable fuel pro­cu­re­ment to ensu­re the relia­bi­li­ty and safe­ty of ope­ra­ti­ons, espe­ci­al­ly in light of recent inci­dents in the Rot­ter­dam area that high­light chal­lenges posed by the blen­ding of “unestab­lished” bio­fuel feedstocks in mari­ne fuels. As a pio­neer in sus­tainable Ro-Ro ship­ping, UECC has taken proac­ti­ve steps to address the­se ope­ra­tio­nal issues through its col­la­bo­ra­ti­on with LR FOBAS, Wart­si­la, and ACT Group in deve­lo­ping FSI.100.

Dani­el Gent, Ener­gy & Sus­taina­bi­li­ty Mana­ger at UECC, empha­si­zes the signi­fi­can­ce of this col­la­bo­ra­ti­ve approach, sta­ting, „In our decar­bo­niza­ti­on jour­ney, it’s essen­ti­al to lea­ve no stone untur­ned. UECC is proud to lead the indus­try in not only imple­men­ting crea­ti­ve solu­ti­ons but also estab­li­shing a blue­print for the cri­ti­cal assess­ment of future fuels such as CNSL-based FSI.100, which holds gre­at poten­ti­al for sus­tainable ship­ping.„

The joint efforts bet­ween UECC, LR FOBAS, Wart­si­la, and ACT Group have resul­ted in struc­tu­red and pha­sed pro­ces­ses that include exten­si­ve engi­ne test bench tri­als and ana­ly­ti­cal assess­ments to eva­lua­te the sui­ta­bi­li­ty of CNSL-based FSI.100 blends in both resi­du­al and distil­la­te fuel oils for mari­ne appli­ca­ti­ons. This dili­gent approach ali­gns with UECC’s com­mit­ment to sus­taina­bi­li­ty and respon­si­ble busi­ness practices. 

An important mile­stone for the mari­ti­me indus­try was accom­plished when the col­la­bo­ra­ti­on resul­ted in the pro­vi­sio­nal accep­tance of CNSL- based FSI.100 as a 30% blend com­po­nent in a distil­la­te DMA mari­ne fuel oil, cle­ared by OEM, Class, and flag Admi­nis­tra­ti­ons, for sea-trial stages. This achie­ve­ment unders­cores the importance of trans­pa­ren­cy and rigo­rous eva­lua­ti­on in the adop­ti­on of sus­tainable ship­ping fuels.

Fabio Sca­ra­mel­li is lea­ding the bio­fuels sup­p­ly and tra­ding divi­si­on at ACT Group, and he is encou­ra­ged and invi­go­ra­ted by the col­la­bo­ra­ti­on. He notes, “As inno­va­tors in mari­ti­me sus­taina­bi­li­ty, our part­ner­ship with UECC, LR FOBAS, and Wart­si­la repres­ents a signi­fi­cant step for­ward in advan­cing CNSL-based bio­fuels. The deve­lo­p­ment of FSI.100 high­lights our dedi­ca­ti­on to crea­ting trans­for­ma­ti­ve resour­ces for the sector’s decar­bo­niza­ti­on jour­ney. ”

Gent fur­ther adds, „UECC’s col­la­bo­ra­ti­on with indus­try lea­ders demons­tra­tes our dedi­ca­ti­on to sha­ping the future of sus­tainable ship­ping. By set­ting high stan­dards and embra­cing inno­va­ti­ve solu­ti­ons, we are not only redu­cing emis­si­ons but also dri­ving posi­ti­ve chan­ge across the mari­ti­me indus­try.„

As part of UECC’s com­mit­ment to trans­pa­ren­cy and best prac­ti­ces, the com­pa­ny recom­mends pre­cau­tio­na­ry mea­su­res in bun­ker pro­cu­re­ment, ensu­ring cla­ri­ty on blend com­pon­ents and adhe­rence to estab­lished bio-grade fuel stan­dards. Whe­re the­re are no ‘estab­lished’ fuel stan­dards for the pro­duct being offe­red, then a struc­tu­red pha­sed approach in asses­sing the sui­ta­bi­li­ty of the pro­duct for use on board a ship needs to be taken to gain accep­tance by Class, OEM and Flag for sea tri­als.

UECC calls for indus­try stake­hol­ders to prio­ri­ti­ze col­la­bo­ra­ti­on, trans­pa­ren­cy, and rigo­rous assess­ment in the pur­su­it of sus­tainable ship­ping solu­ti­ons. With con­cer­ted efforts and inno­va­ti­ve approa­ches, the mari­ti­me indus­try can navi­ga­te towards a more sus­tainable future.