Shipping giant NYK Line has named Japan’s first LNG-fuelled pure car/truck carrier as it prepares to take delivery next month.
The ceremony for the 7,000-ceu Sakura Leader was held at Shin Kurushima Toyohashi Shipbuilding, which is part of Japan's Shin Kurushima Dockyard.
Tokyo-listed NYK said the PCTC is named after Japan's national flower, “with a wish for realising and passing on a flourishing environment to the next generation through eco-friendly transportation”.
“Beginning with this ship, NYK will proceed with the replacement of vessels in its PCTC fleet with next-generation eco-friendly ships,” the company said.
The PCTC will carry vehicles produced by Toyota Motor Corp.
NYK is believed to have ordered the vessel in 2017 for between $90m and $95m, according to a car carrier expert.
Last year, NYK ordered a second newbuilding at Shin Kurushima, which is slated for delivery in 2022.
Expanding gas fleet
The Leader Sakura is not NYK's first LNG-fuelled PCTC. It also owns the Chinese-built, 4,000-ceu Auto Eco and Auto Energy (built 2016). The two ships are controlled by European ro-ro operator United European Car Carriers, which is owned by NYK and Wallenius Lines.
NYK said it plans to build all its PCTCs as "next-generation eco-friendly ships", such as LNG-fuelled vessels.
“The IMO [International Maritime Oraganization] has agreed on an ambition to reduce greenhouse gas [GHG] emissions from shipping by at least 50% by 2050, and NYK has been making a proactive effort to realise environment-friendly transportation by reducing GHG emissions,” NYK said.
The company owns Japan’s first LNG-fuelled tugboat and co-owns an LNG bunker vessel, the 5,000-cbm Engie Zeebrugge (built 2016), with French energy company Engie and Japanese trading house Mitsubishi Corp.
NYK said these vessels allowed it to expand its range of business to include LNG-fuel supply and sale.
“In the field of large cargo ships, NYK is positioning LNG fuel as one of the bridge-solutions until future zero-emission ships are realised. The Sakura Leader takes the lead in NYK’s plan to switch its operating ships to LNG-fuelled vessels,” the shipowner and operator said.
NYK also has a 95,000-dwt LNG-fuelled coal carrier under construction at Oshima Shipbuilding for delivery in April 2023. It ordered the bulker newbuilding to service a long-term contract with Kyushu Electric Power (Kyuden).
