Shipping lines investing in fuel firms to help stay in control of their coming green transition is becoming a trend.
Denmark’s Norden announced today it has acquired a minority stake in MASH Makes, a Danish-Indian biofuel scale-up, which researches, develops and produces renewable fuels from biomass waste.
The investment is a strategic partnership, where Norden secures access to renewable fuels, specifically biooil, at favourable pricing.
Norden and MASH Makes have prior to the investment collaborated on the use of biofuels since 2021. Norden was in 2018 one of the first shipping companies to successfully trial 100% biofuel on a large ocean-going vessel.
“We cannot rely solely on traditional offtake agreements with fuel suppliers to achieve decarbonisation at the necessary speed that climate change requires,” commented Norden CEO, Jan Rindbo. “We need to be a greater part of the supply chain, to both ensure significant volumes and attractive prices that can make Norden competitive in offering low emission freight solutions to our customers.”
The production of MASH Makes’ first biooil product is in a late development stage and a first trial onboard Norden vessels is tipped for early next year.
Furthermore, the expectation is that MASH Makes can gradually ramp up its production and become a significant supplier to Norden’s fleet within the next three years in strategically important locations for decarbonising global tramp shipping.
“The benefit of biooil is that it can be used in existing vessel technologies and bridge the gap between transitioning from fossil fuels to carbon free fuels, which requires new vessel technologies,” said Adam Nielsen, Norden’s head of logistics and climate solutions at Norden.
Maersk, Nippon Yusen Kaisha, Mitsui OSK Lines, BW Group and Compagnie Maritime Belge are among a growing host of shipowners who have also bought into future fuel providers.
