Quadrise readies for MSAR and bioMSAR fuel trials, eyes commercial supply

UK-headquartered Quadrise has signed a collaboration agreement with renewable biofuels supplier Cargill NV and MAC² Solutions, part of Group Machiels, concerning the production of MSAR and bioMSAR fuels for its forthcoming marine vessel trials. Upon completion of trials, Quadrise aims to commence commercial supply of MSAR and bioMSAR fuels in Port of Antwerp-Bruges.

The collaboration agreement covers trials that will be carried out following the installation and commissioning of Quadrise equipment at the MAC² facility in Antwerp, Belgium.

As explained, Cargill will be in charge of supplying feedstocks and bunkering operations to supply MSAR and bioMSAR fuel. Quadrise will provide MSAR and bioMSAR technology and fuel production equipment and personnel, and MAC² will supply jetty space, utilities, permits and ad-hoc support services during the trials.

According to Quadrise, this collaboration agreement is the first of a number of agreements with stakeholders that are required to supply MSAR and bioMSAR to the MSC Leandra for Proof of Concept (POC) and Letter of No Objection (LONO) trials commencing in the second quarter of 2024.

The trials will commence with POC tests using MSAR and bioMSAR followed by several thousand hours of operation on bioMSAR in order to obtain a LONO from the original equipment manufacturer.

Quadrise anticipates that the bioMSAR LONO trial will take approximately six to eight months after the POC trials are completed within around two months, subject to the commercial route of the MSC Leandra during the trials. To remind, Quadrise signed a framework agreement with Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) to test the use of MSAR and bioMSAR fuels on one or more containerships in 2022.

Upon successful LONO trial completion and entry of a long-term fuel supply agreement, the parties plan to seek to initiate commercial MSAR and bioMSAR bunker supply operations to the marine sector by Cargill through the MAC² facilities in Port of Antwerp-Bruges on a permanent basis.

Jason Miles, Chief Executive Officer of Quadrise, said: “We are delighted to have signed this agreement with Cargill and MAC2 to progress our plans for supplying MSAR and bioMSAR to the marine sector from Antwerp-Bruges. We look forward to working with them as we prepare for the trials on the MSC Leandra in Q2 2024 and to a successful longer-term partnership as we progress to commercial supply.”