NYK and Shin-Nippon Kaiyosha start 100% biofuel trial

The trial is being conducted with tugboats operated by Shin-Nippon Kaiyosha. This is the first time that 100% biodiesel has been used in a ship in Japan.

The biofuel from Neste RD is being imported to Japan through a contract that Itochu Corporation has signed with the Neste OYJ Group. Neste RD is a 100% renewable fuel product that is manufactured from waste cooking oil and animal oil that would not be used by the food industry.

It can reduce GHG emissions on a life cycle assessment basis by about 90% compared to petroleum-derived diesel fuel and can be used as a so-called “drop-in fuel,” just like gasoline or diesel oil, without modifying the existing infrastructure.

Earlier this year, NYK and its affiliate Sanyo Kaiji Kabushiki Kaisha started a three-month test using biodiesel supplied by Toyotsu Energy Corporation in tugboats operated by Sanyo Kaiji. The biofuel was supplied ship-to-ship using a bunkering vessel, another first for Japan. Part of the biofuel supplied was recycled from waste cooking oil collected from domestic Toyota Group and Toyota Tsusho Group companies.

NYK has conducted other biofuel trials, from several fuel suppliers, over the last two years.