Japanese firms to construct a hybrid battery-powered LNG-fuelled coastal limestone carrier

Group company NS United Kaiun Kaisha on Thursday (30 September) said its shipping subsidiary NS United Naiko Kaiun Kaisha has signed a shipbuilding contract with Nippon Steel Corporation, Japan Petroleum Exploration Co., Tsuneishi Shipbuilding Company and Kawasaki Heavy Industries (KHI) to build a liquefied natural gas (LNG) fuelled coastal limestone carrier.

The vessel is scheduled to start operations in February 2024, and will be equipped with Japan’s first gas-only engine and 2,847 kWh capacity lithium-ion battery. The LNG bunker fuel tank will use a 7% nickel steel plate developed by Nippon Steel Corporation. 

The propulsion power and onboard electric power during sailing operations are generated by the gas-only engine developed by Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Ltd. Only natural gas will be used for high power, long distance, and long duration navigation. The propulsion power and the onboard power during entering, leaving and berthing ports will be provided from the battery to achieve zero-emission operation.

The CO2 emission reduction effect of introducing the propulsion system of this vessel is 23.56% (about 30% at normal load operation) compared to the conventional vessels of the same type, and the exhaust gas of the gas-only engine contains almost no SOx, and NOx emissions is far below the TierⅢ standards, it states.

The newbuilding will serve as a replacement of the limestone carrier “Shimokita Maru” owned by NSU Naiko and ply between the main routes of loading port, Shiriyamisaki (Aomori Prefecture) and unloading port, Muroran (Hokkaido).

The construction of this vessel was adopted by the Global Environment Bureau of the Japanese Ministry of the Environment and the Maritime Bureau of the Japanese Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism for the projects to promote the introduction of advanced technologies that will simultaneously achieve social innovation and the decarbonisation of logistics.

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Shipcharterer: Nippon Steel Corporation and Nippon Steel Cement
Shipowner/Operator: NS United Naiko Kaiun
Liquefied natural gas supplier: Japan Petroleum Exploration
Shipyard: Tsuneishi Shipbuilding
Propulsion system: Kawasaki Heavy Industries

Photo credit: NS United Kaiun Kaisha
Published: 1 October, 2021