Capital and Lloyd’s Register (LR) will trial the use of biofuels in a new pilot project to support the maritime industry’s research for low to zero-carbon fuels in line with the IMO’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction targets. The trial will test biofuel-blended marine fuel on Capital managed 300k DWT crude tanker, Apollonas.

As part of the project, LR Maritime Performance Services (MPS) team will facilitate the risk assessment of the operational impact of biofuel, orchestrate the development, implementation and calculation of the emissions monitoring programme as well as provide overall third-party verification of the trial. LR’s Fuel Oil Bunker Analysis Service (FOBAS) will also carry out the biofuel quality assessment and characterisation to cover all aspects of the new fuel management.

Nick Brown, Lloyd’s Register Chief Executive Officer said: “There is a keen interest in the shipping industry to learn more about the use of biofuels as we navigate the IMO’s GHG ambitions, specifically the potential for emissions reduction, compatibility with existing bunkering technologies and associated costs. We are delighted to be working with Capital on this pilot project to test the safe use of biofuels in shipping. We hope to build on years of experience and utilise unmatched expertise and analytical capabilities in fuel testing to advance the wider industry’s search for low-to-zero carbon fuels and technologies.”

Nikolaos Vaporis, Capital Chief Technical Officer said: “We support research on various decarbonisation solutions such as the use of biofuels, as part of our commitment to contribute to the industry’s carbon footprint reduction, in line with the IMO GHG emissions reduction agenda. We are especially pleased to participate in this project, as it is an opportunity to work with LR and remain at the forefront of environmental innovation.”