Embracing biofuels is the practical option on the path to decarbonisation

The race for sustainable shipping is heading toward a common goal, however, how companies reach decarbonisation has many different paths. Fuels like ammonia, green methanol or hydrogen have been touted as front-running alternatives for heavy fuel oil, but many challenges lie ahead.

Speaking to Project Cargo Journal, Andreas Rolner, co-founder and Managing Director of United Heavy Lift, said that there is a long road ahead with no clear solution in sight. “We don’t know whether the industry will swing towards ammonia, methanol or something else,” Rolner said. “We will be running on heavy fuel oil (HFO) for many years to come.”

He noted that there are several issues for the adoption of alternative fuels currently. One is the space available onboard the heavy-lift multipurpose vessels the company is deploying. “We could opt for dual-fuel engines, and prepare the piping but we would still need a lot of space for additional fuel tanks, we simply don’t have the space on our vessels to implement it,” he said.

Furthermore, the infrastructure for alternative fuel options is not yet available in all the ports. “You need certainty. We have to make sure that anywhere we go, be it East Timor, South America we have the fuel available, unfortunately the infrastructure is not there yet,” he said.

The high cost of alternative fuels like green methanol and ammonia also makes them less attractive to clients. This is why using biofuels is seen by Rolner as the right way towards reducing emissions.

“Our latest additions to the fleet, UHL Fresh and UHL Fable are running the latest stage of two-stroke engines, capable of running on biodiesel,” Rolner said.

Fleet expansion

The company has recently completed its newbuilding programme with the delivery and naming of its latest F900 Eco-Lifter, the UHL Fable. The F900 Eco-Lifter class is designed and built according to the latest technological standards. As Rolner said both UHL Fable and its sister vessel UHL Fresh are capable of running on biodiesel, fitting right into the company’s strategy of focusing on biofuels. With its very young fleet, United Heavy Lift can be seen as a front-runner in bringing new capacity into a very tight multipurpose, heavy-lift market.

“While I can’t take all the credit, acquiring the F900 fleet from Zeamarine during their insolvency was a strategic move, and we could say they were the frontrunners,” stresses Rolner. “We did take the vessels in a market that was completely different from today. The vessels were expensive at the time and we had a lot of people shaking their heads, but we recognized their future potential, particularly their fuel efficiency.”

The company took over a complete newbuilding program of 17 F900 MPPs and ordered the UHL Fresh and UHL Fable on its own.

The company is also already looking into new designs, however, any newbuildings will not be drastically different from the Eco-Lifters. “We have a few designs ready,” says Rolner that the direction largely depends on the type of cargo the company deals with.

“We are more focused on volume, so we are moving more towards higher intake on the vessel with it remaining relatively compact. So I would not say that it will be much bigger than an F900, as we still need to get into smaller ports,” Rolner said.

United Heavy Lift is focused on supporting the energy transition with its vessels and transporting onshore and offshore wind turbines is part of its core business. The demand in the sector is driven by high ambitions and the ongoing expansion of renewable energies. Market players are already booking tonnage well in advance as capacity is limited and there is only a small number of newbuilds entering the segment in the foreseeable future.