Brazil completed its first bioethanol bunkering operation for a container ship at the Port of Santos. The CMA CGM IRON, a 13,000 TEU vessel with a tri-fuel engine certified to run on bioethanol, was refueled with Brazilian-made bioethanol. The operation involved Copersucar, CMA CGM Group, AGEO Terminais, Santos Brasil, and Bunker One. Copersucar says the bioethanol comes from sugarcane grown on degraded pastureland under Brazil's RenovaBio program, which enforces sustainability and zero-deforestation rules. The project shows that bioethanol is a commercially available fuel for shipping, with existing production infrastructure in Brazil and competitive economics. The Port of Santos and Santos Brasil are positioning themselves as a low-carbon marine fuel hub for South America. CMA CGM plans to operate about 200 containerships capable of using low-carbon energy by 2031 as part of its Net Zero Carbon by 2050 target. The CMA CGM IRON is the first of twelve similar vessels delivered in 2025.
