Japan’s Imabari delivers LNG-fuelled car carrier

Japanese shipbuilder Imabari Shipbuilding delivered an LNG-fuelled car carrier this month to domestic shipping company Mitsui OSK Line (Mol), as Mol targets 90 LNG or methanol-fuelled ships in its fleet by 2030.

Imabari supplied on 12 July the Turquoise Ace with capacity for 7,000 cars. It is designed to consume boil-off gas generated within the vessel's fuel LNG tank, expected to curb carbon dioxide emissions by 25-30pc, sulphur oxide emissions by almost 100pc and nitrogen oxide emissions by 80-90pc. The ship was built by Imabari's group company Tadotsu Shipyard in west Japan's Kagawa prefecture.

Mol is targeting carbon neutrality by 2050 by boosting the number of its LNG- and methanol-fuelled vessels. The firm has commissioned another LNG-fuelled car carrier the Cerulean Ace with capacity for 7,050 cars, while it plans to charter an LNG-fuelled bulk carrier for utility Kansai Electric Power to deliver coal to Kansai's Maizuru power complex in 2026.

By Nanami Oki