Ponant’s Le Champlain recently refueled with biodiesel B100, which is produced from recycled cooking oil.

The 184-guest Explorer-class ship recently took on the fuel on Sept. 21, according to Mathieu Petiteau, newbuilding and research and development director.

“This is exactly what we want to do eventually, which is collect oil and reuse it, or discharge it as valuable energy,” he told Cruise Industry News.

The biodiesel bunkering was more complex than it seemed.

“It’ looks simple to bunker biofuel,” Petiteau explained. “But, when you go over 30 percent biofuel, you need to have the green light from the classification society and flag state based on a risk analysis and detailed specifications.”

With the new fuel on Le Champlain, the company has put in new instruments and measuring tools to gather data on the composition of the exhaust gas and how it changes, Petiteau said.