MOL vessel completes UCO-based biofuel trials

Japanese shipping company Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL) has successfully conducted a used cooking oil-based biofuel trial onboard one of its coastal vessels.

PHOTO: Mitsui O.S.K Lines-owned coastal vessel Tetsuun Maru No.1. Mitsui O.S.K. Lines

Japanese bunker supplier Hanwa supplied the B24 blend in Japan's Chukyo Industrial Area for the trial. The blend comprised 24% biofuel component derived from used cooking oil mixed with 76% heavy fuel oil.

According to MOL, Japanese vessels have only been powered by fatty acid methyl ester (FAME)-based biofuels so far. This was the first trial to utilise used cooking oil in “almost its original form as straight vegetable oil (SVO),” it added.

The trial was conducted on Tetsuun Maru No.1 – an MOL-operated coastal vessel – as part of a research study conducted by Japan's transport ministry and cargo shipping company Tokyo Steel Manufacturing.

MOL reported that the vessel tested the fuel on the route between Mikawa Bay and Tokyo Bay for a month and reported no issues related to flammability or other concerns.

By Konica Bhatt

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