Energy major Shell is to supply bio-liquefied natural gas (bioLNG) to shipping and logistics firm Hapag-Lloyd under a multi-year deal which aims to reduce emissions in the shipping sector.
The partnership builds on a similar agreement signed between the two in 2023 to advance the decarbonisation of alternative marine fuels.
“This agreement helps secure the fuel certainty and supply reliability we need to further expand the use of waste-based renewable fuels across our fleet,” said Jan Christensen, Senior Director of Global Fuel Purchasing at Hapag-Lloyd.
The company has adopted bioLNG – which is derived from biomass feedstocks such as agricultural waste – as a key driver of its decarbonisation strategy, which is targeting net-zero fleet operations by 2045.
Freight shipping is responsible for roughly 3% of global greenhouse gases, mainly from large international vessels powered by fossil fuels like diesel.
The International Maritime Organization has pushed bioLNG through initiatives like a recently approved two-tier pricing mechanism. The mechanism will require LNG-powered ships to transition to bioLNG by 2029 under the direct compliance tier, or by 2033 for the minimum base target tier – or potentially face heavy fines.
An independent study from industry coalition SEA-LNG found that bioLNG could reduce greenhouse gas emissions by up to 80% compared with marine diesel on a well-to-wake basis.
“BioLNG is no longer a concept – it’s here, and it’s fuelling the next chapter of shipping decarbonisation,” said Dexter Belmar, Vice-President of Global Downstream LNG at Shell.
Last year, Hapag-Lloyd completed the largest ever ship-to-ship bioLNG delivery when 2,200 tonnes was supplied to the 14,000 TEU Brussels Express using Titan Clean Fuels’ Alice Cosulich vessel.
As of 2024, bioLNG is available as a marine fuel in over 70 ports worldwide. The Maritime Energy and Sustainable Development Centre of Excellence has forecast that bioLNG as a marine fuel could fully decarbonise approximately 13% of the global shipping fleet in 2050.