NYK to replace LNG bunker fuel system of tugboat “Sakigake” with ammonia-based solution

Japanese shipping firm NYK on Tuesday (31 October) has commenced the conversion of the liquefied natural gas (LNG) fuelled tugboat Sakigake to an ammonia-fuelled tugboat at the Oppama factory of Keihin Dock Co. Ltd.

Sakigake, dubbed A-tug, is operated in Tokyo Bay by the NYK Group’s Shin-Nihon Kaiyosha. The modification involves equipping the tugboat with a domestically produced ammonia-fuelled engine. 

“To replace the entire engine, including the main engine and fuel tank, the engine room will be cut to remove the existing LNG-fuelled equipment and install the new ammonia-fuelled machinery,” NYK said. 

The new engine has been tested at IHI Power Systems’ Ota Plant to show virtually zero emissions from the unburned ammonia and the nitrous oxide (N2O).

The effort was initiated in October 2021 by NYK, Japan Engine Corporation, IHI Power Systems Co., Ltd., and Nihon Shipyard Co., Ltd. as part of the Green Innovation Fund Project of Japan’s New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO).

Sakigake is scheduled for delivery in June 2024. The vessel will continue to be operated by Shin-Nihon Kaiyosha to verify its decarbonisation effect and operational safety as the world’s first ammonia-fuelled vessel. 

Manifold Times previously reported Sakigake conducted its last bunkering at Yokohama Shinko pier as a vessel fuelled by LNG before undergoing conversion work to be re-commissioned an ammonia-fuelled tugboat. 

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
Related: Japan’s first LNG-fuelled vessel “Sakigake” reaches 100th LNG bunkering milestone

Photo credit: NYK 
Published: 1 November, 2023