NYK debuts world’s first ammonia-fuelled vessel for commercial use
- Published
by Admin
Japanese shipping firm NYK on Friday (23 August) said it completed tugboat Sakigake with IHI Power Systems after it was converted to an ammonia-fuelled vessel.
According to NYK’s research, the vessel is the world’s first ammonia-fuelled vessel for commercial use.
The NYK Group company Shin-Nippon Kaiyosha will employ the vessel in tugboat operations in Tokyo Bay over a three-month demonstration period.
The vessel was a Green Innovation Fund Project initiated in October 2021 under Japan’s New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) to develop vessels equipped with domestically produced ammonia-fueled engines
The predecessor, the LNG-fuelled tugboat of the same name, was completed in August 2015 as the first LNG-fuelled vessel in Japan.
After eight years of tug service in Tokyo Bay, the vessel was docked at the NYK Group’s Keihin Dock Co. Ltd. for conversion to an ammonia-fuelled vessel.
The main engine was replaced with an ammonia-fuelled one, and sea trials were conducted using ammonia as fuel.
In a separate statement, ClassNK said it has classed Sakigake as an ammonia-fuelled ship.
Manifold Times previously reported Sakigake conducting its last LNG bunkering at Yokohama Shinko pier as a vessel fuelled by LNG.
Manifold Times also reported NYK announcing it signed a contract with Keihin Dock Co., Ltd., an NYK Group company, to modify tugboat Sakigake to ammonia-fuel specifications.
Related: LNG-fuelled tugboat “Sakigake” conducts final LNG bunkering before ammonia conversion
Related: NYK concludes contract for modifying LNG-fuelled tugboat to ammonia-fuel specs
Photo credit: NYK
Published: 26 August, 2024
