This was the week marine-fuel procurement became a wider risk-management job.
Prices moved sharply in Rotterdam. The EU put a potentially significant support mechanism for lower-emission shipping on the table. Antwerp's bunker volumes showed conventional grades growing while biofuel and LNG went the other way. Meanwhile, ammonia, methanol and LNG projects kept moving from plans towards real operating capability.
The common thread is not that one fuel has won. It is that buyers increasingly need to compare price, availability, compliance value, evidence and delivery risk in the same decision.
Here are the ten developments worth carrying into next week.
1. The EU put a new green-shipping support mechanism on the table
The European Commission's proposed EU ETS revision could reserve up to 110 million allowances between 2028 and 2040 for shipping companies using eligible lower-emission fuels and propulsion technologies.
The proposed Sustainable Maritime Alternative Propulsion mechanism is designed to cover part of the gap between conventional fuel and alternatives. The support rate would vary: renewable fuels of non-biological origin could receive substantially more support than advanced biofuels or biogas.
That sounds straightforward until someone has to price a real stem. The proposal leaves important questions about reference prices, energy-density adjustments, existing FuelEU value and what happens when demand exceeds the allowance pool. It is also a proposal, not law.
The Bulugo lens: the effective price of a marine fuel is becoming fuel cost plus carbon exposure, compliance value and evidence. A useful bunker-price comparison will need to show those assumptions, not hide them.
2. Rotterdam prices delivered a sharp reminder about timing
Rotterdam's LNG bunker benchmark rose by $171/mt over the week to $1,150/mt, according to ENGINE. Two days later, its conventional market update showed one-day increases of $34/mt for VLSFO, $65/mt for LSMGO, $36/mt for HSFO and $57/mt for B30-VLSFO.
The moves tracked higher gas, oil and geopolitical supply risk as Middle East hostilities intensified. They also showed why “the market price” is a slippery phrase. Different grades moved by different amounts over different time windows.
The Bulugo lens: when prices can change materially between enquiry and stem confirmation, the timestamp, grade, delivery window and quote history matter. That audit trail should be part of marine-fuel procurement, not an afterthought.
3. Antwerp-Bruges bunker volumes grew, but the fuel mix split
Around 2 million mt of conventional marine fuel and biofuel was sold at Antwerp-Bruges in the second quarter. That was 5.5% higher than a year earlier.
The detail was less tidy. HSFO rose 11.6%, VLSFO 12.8% and ULSFO 43.6% year on year. Biofuel fell 36%, LNG fell 13.4%, and the port has recorded no methanol sales since the third quarter of 2024. Biofuel did at least recover from the first quarter.
The figures arrived while the Netherlands' RED III implementation was already raising questions about whether volumes were shifting within ARA.
The Bulugo lens: a port can support a fuel on paper without having deep, active demand or broad prompt availability. Buyers need current port-level evidence, not just a directory entry.
4. Malta showed how quickly a port's viable fuel mix can change
Malta's fuel-oil bunker volumes fell by about 35% year on year between January and May, according to Alkagesta analysis reported by Ship & Bunker. DMA marine gasoil moved strongly in the opposite direction.
The explanation combined regulation and infrastructure: the Mediterranean Emission Control Area increased demand for compliant distillates while reduced terminal capacity constrained heavy-fuel availability. Across the region's ten largest bunker ports, the same analysis said VLSFO volumes fell while MGO and ULSFO increased sharply after the ECA took effect.
The Bulugo lens: procurement rules cannot be static. The compliant, available and commercially sensible grade can change by port, sometimes faster than a buyer's approved-supplier spreadsheet.
5. EXMAR's ammonia-fuelled vessel completed a commercial voyage
EXMAR's 46,000 m3 gas carrier Antwerpen completed a China-to-India commercial voyage using ammonia as marine fuel. The company said its dual-fuel operation performed in line with the vessel's design.
That moves the story beyond a drawing, order or sea trial. The vessel had already bunkered green ammonia in Ulsan and is the first of four ammonia-fuelled ships in the series.
It does not make ammonia routine. Toxicity, crew competence, safe bunkering and limited supply infrastructure remain serious constraints.
The Bulugo lens: “ammonia capable” and “ammonia procured safely for this voyage” are very different levels of information. Buyers need to see the operating conditions behind the label.
6. Hamburg did the safety work before claiming ammonia readiness
Hamburg Port Authority and MB Energy completed a risk analysis and safety concept for ship-to-ship ammonia bunkering, working with terminal operators, shipping companies and local authorities.
The port expects ammonia-fuelled vessels to call in future. MB Energy is planning an import terminal from 2029, and an ammonia bunker barge is under consideration.
This is not a commercial launch, but it is an important readiness step. Ammonia supply only becomes useful when permits, exclusion zones, emergency procedures, compatible assets and trained people line up.
The Bulugo lens: availability should describe what can actually be delivered, where, by whom and under which constraints. A generic alternative-fuels badge is not enough.
7. Arctic Tern took a 2,800 mt green-methanol stem
EUKOR's new car carrier Arctic Tern received about 2,800 mt of green methanol at Shanghai. SIPG Energy delivered the fuel by ship-to-ship transfer during cargo operations, with World Fuel arranging the supply.
The methanol was produced locally from municipal solid waste, carried ISCC-EU certification and had a reported carbon intensity below 25 gCO2e/MJ. The vessel will operate on an Asia-Europe service.
The useful bit is not simply that the fuel was “green”. It is the combination of quantity, transfer method, certification, carbon intensity, physical supplier and simultaneous-operation capability.
The Bulugo lens: those fields belong in the enquiry and quote record. They determine whether two apparently similar methanol offers are actually comparable.
8. Avenir launched another piece of the LNG supply chain
Avenir LNG launched Avenir Ambition, the first vessel in its latest LNG bunker-and-supply newbuilding programme. The company has two 20,000 m3 vessels under construction, with one expected to be delivered later this year.
The ship still needs final outfitting, so it is not operating capacity yet. But it is another sign that LNG logistics are scaling alongside the dual-fuel fleet.
The Bulugo lens: alternative-fuel procurement needs infrastructure data alongside price: compatible bunker vessels, operator, capacity, location, delivery window and restrictions.
9. Annual reports put real numbers behind fleet biofuel use
ENGINE pulled together biofuel disclosures from several operators' 2025 reports. Teekay Tankers reported more than 6,000 mt, Eastern Pacific Shipping about 18,000 mt, and other fleets disclosed B6, B24, B30, B100, HVO100 and mass-balanced liquefied biomethane.
The consumption happened last year, but the new comparison is useful because it shows the market moving beyond one-off trial headlines. It also exposes how unhelpfully broad the word “biofuel” can be.
The Bulugo lens: blend percentage, base fuel, feedstock, certification, chain of custody and accounting method all matter. “Please quote biofuel” is not a complete buying instruction.
10. Gibraltar's bunker calls rose as shipping routes shifted
Gibraltar recorded 553 bunker calls in June, 17.2% more than a year earlier. The total was below May's record but remained well above last year's level.
Ship & Bunker linked the increase to the way the Iran conflict has reshaped shipping routes and bunker demand. June's average Gibraltar VLSFO price was lower than May's but still materially higher than a year earlier.
This is the operational side of geopolitics. Rerouting can change demand, congestion, lead time and price at ports far from the original disruption.
The Bulugo lens: a quote without port conditions is only half a procurement decision. Buyers need price and delivery confidence together.
What this week means for buyers and suppliers
This week's lesson is not “switch to methanol”, “buy LNG” or “wait for ammonia”.
It is that marine-fuel procurement now involves several markets at once:
- the physical fuel market;
- the carbon and compliance market;
- the port's real delivery capacity;
- the evidence needed to support sustainability claims; and
- the operational risk between enquiry and delivery.
Suppliers that can make those details clear will be easier to buy from. Buyers that capture them consistently will make better comparisons and create a stronger audit trail.
That is the gap Bulugo is built to close: helping buyers compare offers and helping credible suppliers show what they can actually deliver.
Sources
- ENGINE, The Week in Alt Fuels: EU omits e-fuel earmarking, 24 July 2026.
- ENGINE, LNG Bunker Snapshot: Bunker prices surge in Rotterdam and Singapore as Hormuz tensions intensify, 20 July 2026.
- ENGINE, Europe & Africa Market Update 22 July, 22 July 2026.
- Ship & Bunker, Port of Antwerp-Bruges Q2 Bunker Volumes Up 5.5% Year-on-Year, 21 July 2026.
- Ship & Bunker, Fuel Oil Sales Slide as Malta's Bunker Market Turns to Distillates: Alkagesta, 21 July 2026.
- Ship & Bunker, Exmar's New Ship Completes First Commercial Voyage Using Ammonia, 20 July 2026.
- Ship & Bunker, Hamburg Advances Plans for Ammonia Bunkering, 22 July 2026.
- World Fuel / World Kinect, EUKOR, SIPG Energy, and World Fuel Complete First Green Methanol Bunkering of New Shaper Class Car Carrier at Port of Shanghai, 21 July 2026.
- Ship & Bunker, Avenir LNG Launches New Bunkering Vessel, 21 July 2026.
- ENGINE, Annual reports reveal shipping companies' biofuel consumption, 23 July 2026.
- Ship & Bunker, Gibraltar June Bunker Calls Up 17.2% on the Year, 24 July 2026.