MOL names and splashes Japan’s first methanol-fueled coastal tanker

MOL Coastal Shipping, a group company of Japanese shipping major Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL), has launched and named Japan’s first methanol-fueled coastal tanker.

The launching and naming ceremony for a newbuild coastal tanker, jointly owned by MOL Coastal Shipping, Tabuchi Kaiun, and Niihama Kaiun Kabushiki Kaisha, was held on July 3 at Kanasashi Heavy Industries.

The vessel named Daiichi Meta Maru will transport methanol cargo for Mitsubishi Corporation.

The 65.5-meter-long Daiichi Meta Maru is Japan’s first domestic coastal tanker to use methanol fuel. In addition, it is equipped with energy-saving devices, operational support, and automated cargo handling systems.

The vessel is scheduled for delivery from Kanasashi Heavy Industries in December this year.

The development of the methanol-fueled coastal tanker resulted from a strategic alliance of six Japanese companies which revealed their decision to build the ship in March 2023.

It was also adopted as a subsidy project of the “Utilizing AI/IoT, etc. and More Efficient Transport Promotion Project Grant Subsidy (Coastal Ship Innovative Operational Efficiency Demonstration Projects)” by Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) and Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT).