Japanese alliance to develop methanol-fuelled tanker for domestic market

Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, MOL Coastal Shipping, Tabuchi Kaiun, Niihama Kaiun, Murakami Hide Shipbuilding, and the Hanshin Diesel Works aim to have a ship delivered by 2024.

The project will receive public funding through the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry and Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism.

Methanol can reduce emissions of SOx by up to 99%, particulate matter by up to 95%, NOx by up to 80%, and CO2 by up to 15%, compared to vessels using conventional fuel oil. It has been introduced on ocean-going vessels as an environmentally friendly fuel, including four MOL Group-operated ships, but this will be the first methanol-fuelled ship to serve Japan’s domestic coastal routes.

The companies highlight that methanol can be produced with CO2 and hydrogen as raw material, so in the future, it can be produced by utilising captured CO2 and renewable energy.

Last year, Mitsui O.S.K. Lines signed a strategic cooperation agreement with the Methanex Corporation for MOL to acquire a 40% stake in Methanex’s Waterfront Shipping subsidiary. The strategic cooperation agreement is expected to accelerate the commercialisation of methanol as a marine fuel, as it brings together the world’s leading methanol producer and methanol shipper, with MOL’s vast shipping experience. Waterfront Shipping is also the largest owner of methanol-fuelled shipping in the world, and cooperated with MOL during the construction of the world’s first dual-fuel methanol-fuelled tanker (Taranaki Sun) in 2016.