Japan's NYK Line completes third successful biofuel trial on ship

Japan's NYK Line completed a third successful trial use of biofuel on board one of its ships, paving the way for the company's further advances towards its decarbonization objectives, the company said in a statement Nov. 22.

The biofuel was tested on the bulk carrier Frontier Sky, which is owned by NYK and operated by Tata NYK Shipping Pte. Ltd, it said in the statement.

In this test voyage, the vessel was fueled with biofuel by Toyota Tsusho Petroleum Pte. Ltd. at the port of Singapore Nov. 14 and a test voyage was conducted on a route to the port of Dhamra, India, it said.

NYK provided technical support, such as biofuel refueling arrangements and engine operation planning, and Tata NYK provided operational cooperation for the test voyage, it said, adding that the knowledge gained from this test voyage will be shared among Tata Steel, NYK, and Tata NYK.

The three companies will continue to collaborate with Tata Steel in an effort toward decarbonization, it said.

"Going forward, the NYK Group will further examine greater use of biofuel within the group's fleet, as we seek to provide maximum solutions for our customers' drive toward decarbonization and further expand our efforts regardless of industry or region," it said.

Other initiatives

On Feb.3, NYK Line released the NYK Group ESG Story, which aims to further integrate ESG into the company's management strategy and promotes activities that contribute to its sustainable development goals through business activities.

In September, the shipping company inked an agreement with Itochu Enex, Kyushu Electric Power Company and Saibu Gas for joint discussions on the commercialization of a new business to supply LNG bunker fuel to ships in the Setouchi and Kyushu areas of western Japan.

In the same month, NYK Line said it had agreed to collaborate with global energy player BP to identify opportunities to help transition from marine fuels to alternatives, including methanol.

NYK also aims to introduce by around 2030 ships using more environment-friendly marine fuels such as hydrogen and ammonia, it had said earlier.

Meanwhile, NYK is also supporting an industry-wide research and development fund to accelerate investment in new zero emissions technologies.

"At NYK we have invested heavily into LNG propulsion as a bridge whilst making great strides in research, development and investment of alternate propulsion using methanol, hydrogen and ammonia as possible future renewable energy sources as they gradually need to become available and scalable," Svein Steimler, president & CEO, NYK Group Europe Limited said in a statement Nov. 5.

"We need governments across the world to start walking the talk and do what is necessary to match the ambition shown by the industry and make a statement to the world by accepting proposals at the IMO for a $5bn R&D fund," Steimler added.

A key meeting of the International Maritime Organization -- the 77th session of the Marine Environment Protection Committee -- is currently underway. The meeting that runs from Nov. 22-26 will consider several agenda items including those related to reduction of GHG emissions from ships.