Höegh Autoliners partners with Svitzer for CO2 savings in Australian ports

Norwegian shipping company Höegh Autoliners will leverage Danish towage provider Svitzer’s biofuel insetting program to claim CO2 reduction from its operations.

PHOTO: Höegh Aurora vessel. Höegh Autoliners.

Svitzer has committed to purchasing biofuel for its tugboats, though it has not specified how many vessels will operate on biofuel blends under the program. The greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions saved from using biofuel will be calculated and balanced against the emissions generated during specific towage jobs.

In this case, Höegh Autoliners claimed a “nearly 100% reduction in CO2 emissions” for the towage assistance provided to its Höegh Aurora vessel during the ship’s maiden voyage to Australia, which included port calls at Fremantle, Melbourne, Port Kembla and Brisbane.

This was made possible through the insetting program, which operates on a mass balance concept. In this context, mass balancing accounting method is used to allocate GHG reductions based on biofuel usage.

This means that even if the tugboat assisting Höegh Aurora runs on fossil fuels, its emissions will be offset by biofuel usage elsewhere in Svitzer's global fleet, provided the shipowners pays the associated premium.

For shipowners like Höegh Autoliners, these emission reductions fall under Scope 3 emissions, which cover indirect emissions generated within a company’s supply chain. This includes services provided by external partners, such as towage operations.

By Konica Bhatt

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