INTERVIEW: World Fuel Services Promotes Benefits of Bunker Additives

Mark Tamsitt is senior vice president for EMEA & Asia fuel sales at World Fuel Services. Image Credit: World Fuel Services

World Fuel Services, the world's second-largest seller of marine fuels by volume, is promoting the benefits of bunker additives to its customers as a means of reducing GHG emissions.

The firm is publishing a white paper on the subject with additive producer Infineum, Mark Tamsitt, senior vice president for EMEA & Asia fuel sales at World Fuel, said in an interview with Ship & Bunker.

"It all started off a couple of years ago when an opportunity came to us to be their distributor for their new marine fuel additives," Tamsitt said.

"Infineum -- a JV of Shell and Exxon -- has a long history in additives for diesel fuels and lubricants.

"We saw the product they'd been developing, we saw some of the trial results as well, which at that point were not verified, and they seemed sensible."

Image Credit: World Fuel Services

In one independently verified case study Infineum's B402 combustion improver additive was tested in a tanker as reducing fuel oil consumption by 0.5%, and CO2 emissions by 10.3% on a g/kWh basis, according to the white paper. The test was carried out using half the additive treat rate, so the result indicates an expected 1% SFOC improvement at full treat rate.

The product is added to fuel tanks by the receiving vessel before bunkers are taken on. The firm also has additives to improve bunker stability.

"In the 18 months or so since the start of our partnership with Infineum, we've seen a lot more interest from our customers in additives," Tamsitt said.

"It was quite a surprise to me, when we looked into it, the variety of customers who are already using additives."

Based on a rough straw poll of its larger customers, World Fuel estimates about half of them are using additives in their fuel at least some of the time.

"I'd say almost everybody we've spoken to has shown some interest in it," Tamsitt said.

"One of the challenges is that there are other companies out there making claims of very significant savings -- 15-20% -- and I can't really comment on that, beyond saying it does seem very high."

"Infineum have been very clear that they expect a saving of between 1-2%, which to a layman would seem more achievable.

"Clearly with their technological background and the organisation they are in terms of their joint venture partners, and the data that we've seen so far, that supports that saving."#

To read the white paper in full, click here.