Titan completes first FuelEU pool; pooling may offer up to 70% savings vs penalties

The pool combined both, over- and under-compliant vessels, allowing operators with compliance deficits to balance against those with surplus.

IMAGE: Titan's Optimus bunker vessel. Titan.

Titan Clean Fuels, a subsidiary of Molgas, has completed its first FuelEU Maritime pooling exercise for the 2025 compliance period, with the pool verified by DNV.

The company highlighted the role of LNG and liquefied biomethane (LBM) in meeting FuelEU requirements.

On the impact of pooling on the bunker market, Grégoire Hartig, Commercial Director at Titan, told ENGINE that pricing signals for LBM could increasingly follow FuelEU demand.

"We expect FuelEU pooling to be a driver for the LBM prices. In situations of high FuelEU demand and sustained high prices, LBM prices would do the same, and the other way around. But obviously, only one driver amongst a series of others," Hartig said.

Titan also manages its own ships in the pool. During this pooling period, approximately 73% of the LNG consumed by its bunker vessel Optimus was liquefied biomethane (LBM/bio-LNG).

The company expects this share to rise to around 100% in the next pooling phase.

Hartig also said that the shift to 100% LBM use in the next pooling phase is driven by "the conviction that it is the right thing to do, supporting the decarbonization of shipping, but also reaping the benefits of having chosen vessels to run on an alternative fuel."

On costs, Hartig tells ENGINE that savings from FuelEU pooling depend on the individual vessel but could range from 50% to 70% compared to penalties.

Titan plans to expand its pooling service to more vessels in 2026 and beyond. Currently, the clean fuel bunker supplier manages the process end-to-end, including LBM supply, participant onboarding, and DNV verification.

By Gautamee Hazarika

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