MOL puts in order for six more LNG-powered vessels

Japanese shipping firm Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL) has placed orders for four LNG-powered Capesize bulkers and two VLCCs.

PHOTO: A model of MOL's LNG powered VLCC. MOL

The four 210,000 dwt Capesize bulkers will be build by Chinese CSSC Qingdao Beihai Shipbuilding, and other two 309,000 dwt VLCC bulkers by Dalian COSCO KHI Ship Engineering. They are expected to be delivered between 2025 and 2026.

MOL plans to operate a total of 90 LNG-powered vessels by 2030.

Data from shipping classification society DNV suggests that around 483 dual-fuelled LNG vessels are on order for delivery from 2025. The global LNG fleet has expanded by nearly 65% over the past two years, with 313 vessels currently in operation.

Another Japanese shipping company, Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha (NYK Line), intends to operate 45 LNG-fuelled vessels in the near term, and to convert them to be powered by low-emission fuels such as biogas and synthetic methane in the future.

LNG can curb carbon dioxide emissions by about a quarter compared to conventional bunker fuels. But its methane emissions can be 36 times more potent as a greenhouse gas compared to carbon dioxide over a century, according to a World Bank study.

MOL plans to operate another 110 zero-emission vessels by 2035 and has set a net-zero emission targets for 2050.

By Nithin Chandran

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