MSC Sees Range of Alternative Bunkers On the Table for Decarbonisation

Shell's Melissa Williams and MSC's Bud Darr discussed the topic in an interview. Image Credit: MSC

Container line MSC -- tipped to overtake AP Moller-Maersk as the world's largest shipping firm later this year -- is considering a range of alternative fuel options as it formulates plans to decarbonise its fleet.

Bud Darr, the company's executive vice president for maritime policy and government affairs, set out some of his firm's thinking on the subject in an interview with Melissa Williams, vice president for marine, sectors and decarbonisation at Shell, published on the MSC website on Tuesday.

The company views biofuels, LNG, bio-LNG, synthetic LNG and hydrogen-based fuels as potential candidates for its future energy needs, according to Darr.

"MSC has been pioneering the use of responsibly sourced biofuel blends, and we were pleased to have been able to work with Shell on that," he said in the interview.

"It’s a great start, and part of a much broader range of initiatives, but we agree that no single technology or solution holds all the answers.

"We are looking at all possible options, such as hydrogen derived fuels, which we believe show great potential for container vessels.

"We have also been exploring for several years the significant potential benefits of progressing from fossil-based LNG to bio-LNG or synthetic variants.

"The bottom line is: one size doesn’t fit all. There are up to 100,000 ships out there with various shapes, deployments, and sizes. They all need to decarbonise over time."

MSC and Shell worked closely together before the IMO 2020 transition to try out VLSFO blends on the container line's ships, Williams said.