Thai carrier marks first biofuel-powered voyage

Thailand’s Regional Container Lines (RCL) said one of its vessels has received a biofuel blend for the first time.

IMAGE: Biofuel is supplied to RCL's container vessel Piya Bhum. Regional Container Lines

The product supplied was a B24-VLSFO blend of unspecified quantity. It was delivered on 19 October in Thailand's Laem Chabang port to RCL’s 1,700 TEU-capacity container ship Paya Bhum before it set sail to Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh City.

RCL claims that the biofuel can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 15-19.20% compared to conventional fuels. The shipping firm did not disclose the name of the supplier.

Earlier this year, Thai energy firm Bangchak Sriracha Public Company supplied 470 mt of B24-VLSFO in Laem Chabang to a vessel operated by Japan's NYK Line, which was the first delivery of biofuel to any vessel in Thailand.

That blend was produced at Bangchak Sriracha Refinery and consisted of 24% used cooking oil methyl ester (UCOME) and 76% VLSFO.

By Nachiket Tekawade

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