Wasaline’s LBM surplus to cover Stena Line’s FuelEU targets

Finnish shipping company Wasaline will operate one of its vessels on liquefied biomethane (LBM) to generate overcompliance for Swedish ferry operator Stena Line’s vessels.

IMAGE: Wasaline-operated dual-fuel vessel, Aurora Botnia. Wasaline

Wasaline’s vessel Aurora Botnia will make daily crossings between the port of Vaasa in Finland and the port of Umeå in Sweden, with LBM supplied by Gasum.

ENGINE calculations using default FuelEU emission factors show that LBM’s well-to-wake GHG intensity can range from 16 grams of CO2-equivalent per megajoule (gCO2e/MJ) for vessels with diesel slow-speed engines (0.2% methane slip) to 30 gCO2e/MJ for vessels with Otto medium-speed engines (3.1% methane slip).

Even at the upper end, the switch to LBM will allow the Aurora Botnia to outperform FuelEU’s 2025 cap of 89.34 gCO₂e/MJ.

Aurora Botnia’s surplus will be used to offset shortfalls across Stena Line’s ferries, the companies said. The Swedish operator runs 40 vessels across 20 routes in Northern Europe and the Mediterranean.

ENGINE’s analysis shows that one LBM-powered vessel can cover the compliance deficit of 36–45 fossil LNG-fuelled ships, depending on the engine type. This means the LBM-powered Aurora Botnia alone could offset emissions for all, or nearly all, of Stena Line’s fleet under the FuelEU Maritime pooling system.

Gasum also operates its own FuelEU pool, using LBM as its main compliance fuel. It supplies dual-fuel vessels in the pool and runs its chartered bunkering vessel Kairos on LBM to generate additional surplus compliance.

By Konica Bhatt

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