New Assessment Maps Pathways for Sustainable Maritime Fuels

A new report from the Lloyd’s Register Maritime Decarbonisation Hub (The Decarb Hub) finds that early investment in a small number of strategically positioned hubs and export gateways could accelerate the availability and uptake of sustainable maritime fuels.

The report, Building the sustainable maritime fuel supply chain, is the first in The Decarb Hub's “Maritime System in Transition” series. It sets out a global, evidence-based assessment of where alternative maritime fuels, including e-fuels and selected sustainable biofuels, are most likely to be produced, exported and bunkered first, and what this means for near-term infrastructure investment.

The analysis shows that global bunkering demand is highly concentrated, with just 19 ports supplying around half of the world’s marine fuel. This creates a clear opportunity to accelerate early adoption by equipping a small number of high-impact ports to handle multiple new fuel types safely. However, with the emerging sustainable maritime fuel trade, other ports can also play a significant role.

At the same time, the report also highlights a growing geographic mismatch between where sustainable fuel production is emerging and where demand is currently concentrated. Most credible fuel production projects are located outside today’s largest bunkering hubs, meaning the