VIDEO: Unifeeder short sea ship bunkers with biofuel

Shortsea container ship Elbsummer is bunkered with biofuel and MGO in the Port of Rotterdam.

Netherlands-based sustainable biofuels pioneer GoodFuels and international feeder and shortsea company Unifeeder recently completed their first bunkering of sustainable marine biofuel in the Port of Rotterdam.

Under this new partnership, the shortsea container ship Elbsummer was bunkered with a blend of marine biofuel produced from 100% sustainable feedstock and marine gas oil (MGO) before starting its journey towards Helsinki, Finland.

This is the first bio-bunkering carried out GoodFuels and Unifeeder, and aligns with both companies’ ambition to significantly reduce the carbon footprint of European transportation and improve the environmental impact of the shipping industry.

GoodFuels supplies biofuels to the global shipping industry that “drop in” existing engines without requiring any modifications to the engine components or fuel infrastructure. The company says that its marine biofuels reduce CO2 emissions by up to 90% well-to-exhaust, and eliminate SOx emissions almost entirely. All its biofuels are 100% sustainable because they are produced from various certified feedstocks labeled as waste or residue.

Unifeeder, which is owned by global end-to-end logistics firm DP World, has a target of decarbonizing its fleet by 50% by 2040.

“We are delighted to see Unifeeder join the ranks of our maritime pioneer partners committed to sustainability,” said Isabel Welten, chief commercial officer at GoodFuels. “This partnership demonstrates once again that solutions do already exist today to reduce emissions from shipping. Our marine biofuels respect the environment on all fronts, as they are sourced from feedstocks that are sustainable and do not compete with food production or cause deforestation.”

“We are delighted by the results of this first bio-bunkering, which is in line with our long-term commitment towards the environment,” said Timm Niebergall, Shortsea Director at Unifeeder. “Short sea shipping already provides a greener alternative to inland transport, and GoodFuels’ sustainable biofuel is a meaningful solution that allows us to reduce our emissions in an immediate, significant and measurable way.”