Viva Energy kicks off Australia’s first cruise ship biofuel trial

Australia’s fuel supplier Viva Energy has launched the country’s first marine biofuel trial on a commercial cruise ship.

The initiative kicked off on April 5, when Celebrity Edge, a cruise ship operated by Royal Caribbean Group, sailed from Sydney powered by biofuel.

The bunkered B20 biofuel combined 80% marine distillate and 20% locally sourced B100, derived primarily from Australian used cooking oil, carrying International Sustainability and Carbon Certification (ISCC+) accreditation.

The trial, in collaboration with Polaris Marine, aims to evaluate the performance and carbon reduction benefits of marine biofuel supported by Viva Energy’s marine supply chain in Port Jackson.

“We are very pleased to conduct this trial with Royal Caribbean Group from our Sydney Harbour operations, a first-of-its-kind operation to deliver marine biofuel to a cruise ship in Australia,” said Richard Xin, Viva Energy’s General Manager Specialities, Marine & Defence.

“Viva Energy is committed to supporting our customers in reducing their carbon footprint by introducing new fuels and innovative supply chains. While the supply of biofuel is not new internationally, this trial is a crucial step towards establishing lower carbon marine fuels in Australia.”

At the beginning of 2025, Royal Caribbean partnered with bunker service provider Chimbusco Pan Nation Petro-Chemical (CPN) for B24 marine biofuel delivery in Hong Kong, where ISCC-EU certified B24 marine biofuel was delivered to its 2008-built cruise ship Celebrity Solstice.

In 2023, the cruise shipping major completed over 12 consecutive weeks of biofuel testing in Europe.