In Sweden, marine fuel infrastructure developer Fossil Free Marine Europe AB (Fossil Free Marine) has announced that it is now approaching the commercialization of its new unmanned floating mobile marine fuel station, the first-ever DNV-assured marine fuel station of its kind.
According to a statement, the new unmanned floating mobile marine fuel station contains a number of patent-pending innovative features.
Among them is a unique adapted pressure leakage detection system for underground double-wall storage tanks in special composite material.
It has been a very time-consuming development process over many years but we know that the major international players in the fuel industry will settle for nothing but the best, and we believe that’s exactly what we have developed and built at one of the foremost composite shipyards in the Nordics, said Niklas Sjöö, Co-Founder of Fossil Free Marine.
Compared to existing technology, the new marine fuel station from Fossil Free Marine offers several distinct advantages.
In combination with being DNV-assured, it is essentially setting a new world standard in safe and environmentally friendly storage and distribution of liquid fuels, including modern drop-in biofuels.
Our breakthrough solution offers the marine sector a quantum leap into the 21st century, encompassing technology hereto only found in the latest land-based fuel distribution infrastructure, said Karl-Oskar Tjernström, Co-Founder and CEO of Fossil Free Marine.
First installation in Stockholm
The first mobile unmanned unit is nearing completion and scheduled for installation and commercial operation in central Stockholm in late summer.
Our first pilot will be released in co-operation with a global fuel company and will deliver convenient filling for both pleasure and light commercial vessels, through two Gilbarco SK700 connected to six separate tanks of 10 m3 each, through a TLS4B automatic tank gauge, offering full self-service 24/7 with card payment and remote operations, said Niklas Sjöö.
To our knowledge, this is the first fuel pontoon to ever be assured by Det Norska Veritas, Niklas Sjöö said.
The first installation is partly funded by the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency through the Climate Step (Klimatklivet) grant program.
When rolled out at scale, our new marine fuel station bridges the gap between suppliers of modern renewable drop-in biofuels, and boaters wishing to dramatically reduce their climate impact. We can make boating sustainable. Right here. Right now, said Karl-Oskar Tjernström.
Global interest
Although a Swedish company at heart, Fossil Free Marine is determined to make this a global venture, with plans both to sell to major fuel companies and manufacture across the world.
For us, Sweden is just a stepping stone, as we plan to do this on a global scale. Our technology is highly scalable, both in size and in terms of applications, and can be mass produced by large composite shipyards close to our end customers anywhere in the world. We have already garnered quite a bit of interest, obviously from the Nordics and Europe, but also as far away as French Polynesia, New Zealand, and Alaska. To say that we’re excited about the future is an understatement, ended Karl-Oskar Tjernström.
