Japan’s Nippon Foundation on Wednesday (30 September) said it has completed what it describes as the world’s first demonstration voyage of a vessel equipped with a hydrogen-only combustion engine.
The 4,500-gross-tonne Kikou Maru, developed under the Nippon Foundation’s Zero Emission Ship Project, sailed for about two hours and covered approximately 33 km in Osaka Bay on 25 September using a hydrogen-only marine engine.
The foundation said the development and demonstration voyage of a vessel equipped with a hydrogen-only engine is the world’s first, based on its research as of September 2026.
The engine, developed by Yanmar Power Solutions, uses a pilot-ignition system and is designed to operate on hydrogen as its main fuel.
Ueno TransTech, which owns and operates Kikou Maru, was responsible for retrofitting the vessel and training crew to handle hydrogen fuel, while Yanmar Power Solutions developed the hydrogen engine and associated equipment.
The demonstration achieved an estimated 1.2 tonnes of CO₂ emissions reduction compared with operation using conventional fossil fuel, according to the Nippon Foundation.
The project forms part of the Nippon Foundation’s Zero Emission Ship Project, launched in 2022 to support the development and demonstration of zero-emission vessels for Japan’s domestic shipping sector.
The project comprises three consortia focused on hydrogen-fuelled vessel technologies. The foundation said it aims to contribute to achieving carbon neutrality in Japan’s domestic shipping sector by 2050.
The latest demonstration follows the project’s successful zero-emission operation in April 2024 of HANARIA, an offshore wind-farm service vessel powered by hydrogen fuel cells. Further demonstrations involving the other two consortia are planned by the end of fiscal 2026.
Photo credit: Nippon Foundation
Published: 2 October, 2026
