MOL launches bunker fuel study to help predict environmental impact

Japanese shipping firm Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL) and the National Institute for Environmental Studies (NIES) will conduct fuel quality analysis of bunker fuels including biofuel.

PHOTO: Bunkering of a bulk carrier. Getty Images

The three-year project will also cover research for safe operation of machinery on vessels.

The findings of the study will form a database, from which MOL intends to predict the environmental impacts of different fuel types and reduce risks of oil leakage.

MOL plans to incorporate this database in a data management system it developed last year. The system manages fuel oil and lubricant analysis results, and consolidates data by vessel and region. It shows where off-specification fuels have been bunkered.