Swire Shipping launches first biofuel services to the Pacific Islands

Swire Shipping has announced that three of its vessels serving the South Pacific have made the switch to B24 and B30 second generation biofuel blends.
The voluntary move supports Swire Shipping’s long-term sustainability ambitions and will provide more options to customers looking to reduce their emissions.
The three vessels involved in the biofuel programme are Apia Chief and Tonga Chief on the Pacific Weekly Express (PWX) service running direct calls from Southeast Asia to Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, New Caledonia and Fiji, and Kokopo Chief on the
East Timor (ETS) service which provides direct service every 10 days between Singapore, Dili, Darwin and Surabaya.
The vessels will bunker B24 in Singapore in Q2 2025 enroute to the South Pacific, and subsequently transition to B30.
Swire Shipping’s chief executive officer, Jeremy Sutton, said: “At Swire Shipping, we are committed to reducing our environmental footprint and contributing to a more sustainable future.
“The island nations of the South Pacific are particularly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, and this move marks an important step in our ongoing efforts to reduce emissions and support a cleaner, greener shipping industry.”
The biofuel programme brings together Swire Shipping and its sister company, Argent Energy, a waste-based biofuel producer, achieving synergies within the Swire Group to meet the shared goal of delivering sustainable energy solutions to customers. The collaboration includes an agreement with BP, a supplier of biofuel in Singapore, to explore new feedstocks of marine fuel.
Argent Energy’s chief executive officer, Louise Calviou, commented: “This successful biofuel programme highlights what can be achieved through strong international partnerships, all united by the common goal of decarbonisation. It has been especially rewarding to work alongside our sister company and other partners to accelerate the use of waste derived biofuels. We look forward to continuing our collaborative efforts, with sustainability at the centre of all we do.”