LNG-fuelled ferry launched for MOL

Delivery is scheduled for March 2023, following completion of interior work and sea trials.

The new vessel will go into service on a regular route between Osaka and Beppu operated by Oita-based Ferry Sunflower Limited, replacing the Sunflower Ivory and Sunflower Cobalt which have been in service since 1997.

The Sunflower Murasaki is 199.9m long and 28.0m wide, with gross tonnage of approximately 17,300. The vessel has capacity to accommodate 716 passengers, an estimated 137 13-meter trucks, and roughly 100 passenger cars. Compared to earlier ferries, the Sunflower Murasaki also features significantly more loading capacity for trucks, a more spacious lounge for truck drivers, and substantially greater space per passenger.

The vessel is equipped with Wartsila 31DF dual-fuel engines – in the first reference for the engine on a domestic Japanese ferry – that can run on both LNG and A-type heavy oil. 

The first ferry in the series, Sunflower Kurenai, became Japan’s first LNG-fuelled ferry when it was launched in March 2022.