China Merchants hands over final LNG-fueled car carrier to NYK Line ahead of schedule

Japanese shipping major NYK Line has taken delivery of the fourth and final LNG-powered pure car truck carrier (PCTC) from China Merchants Jinling Shipyard (Nanjing) Co.

The vessel named Sumire Leader was delivered to NYK on 14 August, which is 139 days ahead of schedule, according to the shipyard.

Sumire Leader is a 7,000-CEU car carrier ordered by NYK Line at China Merchants’ shipyard in 2020 as part of the four-vessel series.

The first unit, Jasmine Leader, was delivered at the beginning of the year. Wild Rose Leader and Freesia Leader, were delivered in April and July, respectively.

The vessels measure a total length of 199 meters and a molded width of 38 meters, making it one of the largest ships in its class.

The use of LNG fuel combined with other energy-efficiency solutions such as hull modification is expected to contribute to a reduction of sulfur oxide (SOx) emissions by 99% compared to ships fueled by heavy fuel oil. Likewise, nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions are set to be cut by 96%, and CO2 emissions by approximately 40% or more (per unit of transportation), according to NYK Line.

The construction of these four vessels is in line with NYK Line’s plan to replace current vessels with around 40 newly built LNG-fueled PCTCs over the next decade to reduce CO2 emissions per ton-kilometer of transport by 50% by 2050. NYK Line aims to move from LNG as a transition fuel to utilizing low-emission marine fuels such as hydrogen and ammonia from around the mid-2030s.

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