MSC agrees with Quadrise to trial alternative HFO

MSC Shipmanagement Limited of Cyprus, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Mediterranean Shipping Company, has signed a Joint Development Agreement with Quadrise to trial MSAR, an enhanced emulsified synthetic heavy fuel oil (HFO), on commercial container vessels.

The trial is set to commence in 2021 with subsequent commercial rollout upon success. 

According to Quadrise, Multiphase Superfine Atomised Residue (MSAR) technology enables refiners to generate higher value from the bottom of the barrel through the use of proprietary, non-polluting, modular blending systems that can be installed in under 12 months. 

It enables viscous refinery residues to be mixed with small amounts of specialist chemicals and water to create an emulsified HFO – freeing up valuable distillates, that are otherwise downgraded by their use as diluents to produce conventional HFO from residues, significantly improving refinery yields.

Initial activities under the agreement will include project initiation, definition, high-level scoping, and feasibility activities of the overall trial. These activities are to be completed within 3 months.

Contingent on the outcome of these activities, one or more trials would ensue in the second half of 2021 on representative commercial vessels in MSC’s fleet.

Depending on the results of this stage, and subject to further agreement between the parties, the agreement envisages commercial roll-out across the MSC global fleet.

The testing of MSAR fuel is set to be conducted in a large MAN ME and/or a Wärtsilä/WinGD Flex 2-stroke engine so as to obtain Letter Of No Objection approvals from the respective engine manufacturers.  Phase 1 testing may also incorporate testing of QFI’s new bioMSAR biofuel.

“We believe that MSC’s large modern fleet installed with electronic engines and, in some cases, exhaust gas cleaning systems (scrubbers) is well positioned to realise the economic and environmental benefits of MSAR® and bioMSAR^TM and we look forward to realising the project and getting the trials underway in 2021,” Jason Miles, CEO of QFI, said.

“MSC is looking forward to working with the Quadrise team under the JDA in 2021 to scope out the operational trials of MSAR® on our container vessels. We are particularly interested in the potential environmental benefits of MSAR® and bioMSAR^TM that, alongside the economic benefits, reflect our approach to operating a modern MSC fleet, and fit well with our overall future fuels strategy,” Prabhat Jha, Group MD & CEO of MSC Shipmanagement Ltd, said.