Viking Line starts running two vessels on bio-LNG under Gasum’s pooling scheme

Finnish shipping company Viking Line has started running two of its vessels on bio-LNG to create surplus compliance under state-owned energy firm Gasum’s FuelEU pooling scheme.

IMAGE: Gasum’s bunkering barge bunkering Viking Line's vessel in Turku, Finland. Gasum

Also known as liquefied biomethane (LBM), bio-LNG consists of approximately 99.8% methane. LNG-capable vessels can run on either pure LBM or LBM-LNG blends without any modifications.

Viking Line has begun operating its two ro-ro (roll-on/roll-off) vessels, Viking Glory and Viking Grace, on bio-LNG to generate compliance under Gasum’s FuelEU Maritime pooling service.

Both ships sail daily on the route between Turku, Finland, and Stockholm, Sweden.

This move builds on an agreement signed between the two companies at the end of 2024 to develop the pooling collaboration.

Gasum’s FuelEU Maritime pool

The EU’s FuelEU Maritime regulation features a pooling mechanism that lets shipowners share compliance across a group of vessels.

Under this system, ships that exceed greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction targets can transfer their surplus compliance to underperforming vessels in the same pool, helping them offset shortfalls and avoid penalties.

Gasum generates compliance for pool participants by using waste-based bio-LNG in selected dual-fuel vessels, though it has not revealed how many ships may benefit.

To ensure accuracy, Gasum relies on DNV’s technology to track and validate the pool’s fuel consumption and emissions. At year-end, DNV will verify the pool’s overall balance for submission to EU authorities.

Other Gasum bio-LNG initiatives

This month, Gasum announced that its LNG bunkering vessel Coralius will operate fully on bio-LNG.

In June, Swedish paper producer Svenska Cellulosa Aktiebolaget (SCA) joined Gasum’s bio-LNG pooling scheme to meet requirements under the EU’s FuelEU Maritime regulation. Earlier in May, Gasum also began operations at its new biogas plant in Götene, Sweden.

By Tuhin Roy

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