Mitsui OSK Lines is working on a plan for a sustainable supply chain in new fuels.
The giant Japanese shipowner has signed a cooperation deal with trader Itochu, Texas e-fuel company HIF and manufacturer JFE Steel.
The “wide-ranging” feasibility study will look into a circular shipping project involving synthetic fuel and CO2 transport using green hydrogen, MOL said.
The idea is to capture CO2 in Japan, ship it to Australia and produce synthetic fuel from it, before re-exporting.
The CO2 feedstock will come from industries that will have difficulty achieving decarbonisation through electrification, hydrogenation or other means alone, MOL said.
The partners will draw on their networks in Japan and overseas.
Carbon capture will start at JFE steel plants.
Earlier in February, MOL joined up with Australian energy company Woodside, South Korea’s HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering and Korean shipowner Hyundai Glovis to study shipping liquefied hydrogen.
Woodside, HD KSOE and Hyundai Glovis had been working together on this since 2022 and approached MOL to join their study.
MOL said the companies will study the technology, safety, construction, operation and economics of a liquefied hydrogen carrier with 80,000-cbm tank capacity, with the aim of establishing a liquefied hydrogen supply chain in Asia and other regions.
CO2 carriers being worked on
In November, MOL said it was working with a key charterer to develop new CO2 carriers.
It has signed a service agreement with Japan’s Kansai Electric Power Co to conduct feasibility research on the design of a liquefied gas ship.
New vessels could be built both domestically and overseas, MOL added.
