EMEA News
ExxonMobil Expands HDME 50 Supply to Hamburg
ExxonMobil has expanded its supply of Premium Heavy Distillate Marine ECA 50 (HDME 50) fuel to Hamburg, Iain White, field marketing manager at ExxonMobil Marine Fuels & Lubricants, has told Ship & Bunker.
The product is available now through Frommann, ExxonMobil's branded distributor, with the first deliveries in Hamburg having taken place last month.
"We've got quite a number of people now using the product [HDME 50], and we've seen that the interest in Emission Control Area (ECA) fuels and lower BN lubricants has really increased," White told Ship & Bunker.
"Frommann, our branded distributor, has sold our lubricants for some time and they expressed interest in distributing the fuel as well."
"So this provides them with the opportunity to offer both ECA fuels and lubricants solutions."
HDME 50 was launched in July 2014 and boasts a maximum sulfur content of 0.10 percent for compliance with 2015 ECA regulations, but with the benefit of the onboard handling characteristics of fuel oil.
At present the product is only produced at ExxonMobil's Antwerp refinery with the ARA region currently the only other area of supply, but White said there would be further announcements with respect to additional supply locations for ECA compliant fuels soon.
"We're just sorting out the finer details but there is certainly more to come," he said.
Asked if the supplier had learnt anything further about the product's real world use since its launch, especially now that the new ECA rules have come into play, White stressed that people should pay attention to best practice, and keep the mix of any fuels to a minimum.
"We're learning that how the fuel system is set up is very vessel specific. How long ahead of the actual entry point into the ECA operators need to switch varies because systems are all set up differently," he said.
"But whenever they do change fuels, we're urging them to do it properly and safely."
In September ExxonMobil launched Mobilgard 525, a new engine oil for ships using 0.10 percent sulfur fuel.
