JMU delivers 181,000 dwt eco-friendly bulker Sakura Queen to domestic owner

Japan Marine United Corporation (JMU), one of the biggest shipbuilding players in Japan, has handed over the 181,000 dwt bulk carrier Sakura Queen to compatriot maritime transport company Green Spanker Shipping.

As disclosed, Sakura Queen was delivered during a ceremony held on February 20, 2025, at JMU’s Ariake shipyard in the southwestern Kumamoto prefecture.

The newbuilding possesses a length of 292 meters, a breadth of 50 meters, a depth of 24.5 meters and a draft of 18.2 meters, with a gross tonnage of 93,691 GT.

According to JMU, Sakura Queen is the seventh vessel in its N-181,000 dwt type bulk carrier series, which incorporates the company’s proprietary energy-saving technology because of which the unit is said to meet Phase 3 of the Energy Efficiency Design Index (EEDI).

As informed, the Panama-flagged vessel has been fitted with a ballast water treatment system—which helps prevent the spread of invasive marine species by removing or neutralizing organisms in ballast water—and operates in line with the nitrogen oxide (NOx) Tier III emission stipulations.

Representatives from JMU elaborated that the ship’s hull was designed with ‘minimal’ resistance and ‘high’ efficiency in mind. They added that combined with JMU’s energy-saving devices, i.e., the Super Stream Duct, Surf-Bulb and ALV-Fin, Sakura Queen could accomplish ‘considerable’ fuel savings.

So far this month, the Yokohama-headquartered company has bid adieu to two bulk carriers as they sailed away to join the fleets of their owners. Namely, on February 6, 2025, JMU and Singapore’s Eastern Pacific Shipping (EPS) marked the handover of the latter’s 211,981 dwt bulk carrier Mount Anjin.

Just a week later, JMU delivered a liquefied natural gas (LNG)-powered dual-fuel dry bulk carrier SG Twilight to compatriot shipping major Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha (NYK Line). It is understood that SG Twilight will sail under NYK Line’s Sail GREEN brand, launched in 2022.

SG Twilight’s handover comes just one year after its sister vessel, the 210,000 dwt SG Ocean, considered to be ‘the first’ Capesize LNG-fueled bulk carrier to be built at a shipyard in Japan, joined NYK’s fleet.