Japan’s Mol to launch a LNG-fuelled ferry in 2023

Japan’s Mol to launch a LNG-fuelled ferry in 2023

Japan's Mol to launch a LNG-fuelled ferry in 2023

Tokyo, 3 March (Argus) — Japanese shipping firm Mitsui OSK Line (Mol) will launch a LNG-fuelled passenger ferry in January 2023, operating a domestic route linking Osaka's Nanko port with Beppu port in Oita prefecture.

Mol will take delivery of the 17,300/gross tonne (gt) Sunflower Kurenai, which carries 716 passengers, 100 cars and 137 commercial trucks. The new ship can run on LNG and very low-sulphur fuel oil (VLSFO), but the company sees VLSFO as back-up fuel when the ship cannot burn LNG in rough sea conditions.

The company will also launch another passenger ferry Sunflower Murasaki with the same specifications as Kurenai in March 2023. Two LNG-fuelled ships were ordered in December 2019 with Japanese shipbuilder Mitsubishi Shipbuilding, a wholly owned subsidiary of Japanese engineering firm Mitsubishi Heavy Industries.

The vessels are expected to cut 25pc of carbon dioxide, 100pc of sulphur oxide and 85pc of nitrogen oxide emissions, Mol said.

The firm also placed an order in February to build two similar ships that will link Oarai port in Ibaraki prefecture with Tomakomai port in the country's northern Hokkaido island. The new vessels are expected to be launched in 2025.

Mol is accelerating the replacement