CMA CGM Accelerates Deployment of Biofuel

The CMA CGM Group has announced a partnership with Shell to supply tens of thousands of tons of marine biofuel to its fleet. The fuel will allow the Group's ships to travel nearly one million kilometers, equivalent to over 80 round-trips between Rotterdam and New York.

In 2019, successfully tested the use of a marine biofuel onboard the container ships CMA CGM White shark and CMA CGM Alexander von Humboldt.

The fuel used is composed of 80 percent low sulfur fuel oil and 20 percent of a biofuel made of used cooking oil. The biofuel used reduces greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent and virtually eliminates sulfur oxides emissions. 

Beyond technical solutions to limit greenhouse gas emissions, CMA CGM wants to unite all maritime transport actors in an international coalition initiated by Rodolphe Saadé, President and Chief Executive Officer of the CMA CGM Group, and supported by French President Emmanuel Macron. This high-level coalition will work towards the emergence of tomorrow's clean energy for de-carbonized transport. 

The Sustainable Shipping Initiative (SSI) launched the report The Role of Sustainable Biofuels in the Decarbonisation of Shipping at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP25) this month. The report indicates that biofuels derived from biomass may be an attractive option for the shipping sector and can be used as a feedstock to produce alcohol fuels such as ethanol and methanol, liquified bio-gas (LBG) or bio-diesel.

Earlier this month, MSC announced that it has started to use biofuels for bunkering vessels calling in Rotterdam, and it intends to increase the blend proportion from 10 to 30 percent. The fuel will be used on a routine basis going forward.