Energy company Gasum has signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) with Finnish shipping company Viking Line on joining Gasum’s FuelEU Maritime pooling service.
Viking Line uses LNG-powered vessels to transport passengers and cargo between Finland and Sweden. Viking Line plans to offer over-compliance to the pool by running its daily route on Gasum’s renewable waste and manure based bio-LNG, which offers more than a 90% emissions reduction when compared to conventional fossil fuels such as MGO. Viking Line joins Finnish shipping company Wasaline as Gasum’s FuelEU Maritime pooling service’s over-compliance generator.
Jacob Granqvist, Gasum VP Maritime, said: “We are thrilled at the opportunity to have a pioneering Nordic shipping company like Viking Line join our FuelEU maritime pooling service. With Viking Line on board Gasum will have an unmatched source of over-compliance in the pool. This will enable us to offer our customers the easiest and most cost-effective way to reach compliance for vessels running on conventional fuels.”
Jan Hanses, CEO Viking Line, added: “For us at Viking Line, taking every possible step towards more sustainable maritime transport is a top priority. Increased use of bio-LNG as a maritime fuel is one big step. That is why joining Gasum’s FuelEU Maritime pooling service is such an attractive option for us. If we can enable reducing emissions in the maritime sector and further our work towards Green Maritime Corridors with such an easy move, there is really no question about it.”
Gasum will manage the pools, supply ultra-low emission bio-LNG and offer over-compliance to shipping companies with conventional fuel vessels. Gasum believes its pooling service is the easiest and most reliable way for shipping companies to save on compliance costs and promote the production of low-emission fuels at the same time.
To make compliance easier for shipping companies, FuelEU Maritime permits the voluntary pooling of emission reductions between vessels. This means, that vessels that are over-compliant can compensate emissions on behalf of under-compliant vessels, in other words, provide compliance as a service.
Liquefied biomethane, bio-LNG, is a fully renewable and environmentally friendly fuel with life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions that are, on average, 90% lower when compared with fossil fuel use. Biogas can be used in all the same applications as natural gas. Gasum’s strategic goal is to offer yearly 7 TWh of renewable gas, including biomethane and e-methane, to its customers by 2027.
Image: Viking Line is joining Gasum’s FuelEU Maritime pool (source: Sea-LNG)
