K Line’s subsidiary inks agreement with KHI to build electric tugboat

Japanese shipping company Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha (K Line) has unveiled that its subsidiary Daito Corporation signed a collaboration agreement regarding the construction of an electric tugboat with compatriot Kawasaki Heavy Industries (KHI) and Daizo Corporation.

As disclosed, the EV tugboat will be equipped with a high-capacity battery of 3.2 MWh and operate using green electricity charged into the battery.

By using battery power, the vessel is expected to reduce fuel consumption and carbon dioxide emissions compared to conventional tugboats equipped with heavy fuel oil engines.

Furthermore, through the newly developed hull design and the automatic control of onboard power demands using IoT technologies, energy consumption can be optimized, enabling energy-efficient and high-performance operations of the vessel.

According to K Line, this could result in approximately a 60% reduction in carbon dioxide emissions compared to traditional tugboats.

The initiative is a part of the Grant Program for the Promotion of Energy Efficiency and Non-Fossil Energy Transition in the Transportation Sector (Innovative Navigation Efficiency and Transition to Non-Fossil Energy for Coastal Shipping), a collaboration between the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, which will play “a significant role in the coastal shipping industry’s environmental initiatives”.

The vessel is scheduled for delivery in May 2027, and it will offer towage service for ships at Yokohama Port and Kawasaki Port to contribute to the development of carbon-neutral ports in both locations.

As part of its decarbonization agenda, K Line recently took delivery of the newbuild LNG-fueled car carrier from China Merchants Jinling Shipbuilding (Jiangsu). The 7,000 CEU vessel named Nereus Highway is the first LNG-fueled ship built by the Chinese shipyard for K Line as part of the order from September 2021.

Classed by DNV, the ship measures nearly 200 meters in length and 38 meters in width. It runs on a dual-fuel electronically controlled WinGD 7X62DF-2.1 engine, which reduces methane emissions when using LNG as a fuel, according to the company.