Under the partnership with Dutch-based CarbonLeap, StormFisher will supply e-methanol produced by its recently acquired project in Quebec to selected shipping companies for certain voyages.

CarbonLeap will pool demand from cargo owners seeking to cut Scope 3 emissions, using that aggregated demand to finance the e-fuel premium and allocate the verified reductions through a book-and-claim system.

The model allows cargo owners to support low-carbon fuel uptake without requiring their goods to be carried on a specific green-fuelled vessel.

The e-methanol produced by StormFisher’s project is expected to comply with the EU’s renewable fuels of non-biological origin (RFNBO) rules, delivering lifecycle emissions reductions of around 85% compared with conventional marine fuels.

In October, the firm acquired a partially built methanol plant from Recyclage Carbon Varennes, which originally planned to use a biomass gasification process. StormFisher said it would complete the site with the ability to use clean hydrogen.

Bertil Duinhouwer, CEO of CarbonLeap, said the partnership would make low-emissions maritime fuel more accessible and could improve affordability.

It comes as shipping firms increasingly face tougher carbon reduction targets.

Despite delays to global carbon pricing under the International Maritime Organization, the EU has imposed its targets.

Under FuelEU Maritime, ships over 5,000 GT docking at EU ports face greenhouse gas intensity limits, while the bloc’s emissions trading scheme was expanded to cover internal voyages in 2024.

“This partnership enables cargo owners to achieve measurable value-chain emissions reductions,” said StormFisher, Executive Vice-President of Strategy and Business Development, Ashkan Shoja-Nia.