NYK Line takes delivery of first in four LNG-powered vehicle carriers

Japanese shipping firm NYK Line has taken delivery of an LNG-powered pure car and truck carrier (PCTC) from China Merchants Jinling Shipyard in Nanjing.

PHOTO: The newly built LNG-fuelled PCTC, Jasmine Leader. China Merchants Jinling Shipyard

The PCTC vessel, Jasmine Leader, was ordered in 2021 and is the first in four LNG-powered PCTCs to be delivered to NYK Line. The 200-metre-long vessel will transport vehicles between Europe and the Middle East.

NYK will pay about $75 million for each of the four vessels, according to data by VesselsValue.

NYK is planning to replace its existing vessels with around 40 newly built LNG-powered PCTCs over the next 10 years to halve its fleet's CO2 emissions on a mt/kilometre of transport basis by 2050.

The vessels will all be fitted with WinGD’s two-stroke engines with shaft generators, DC-links, and battery systems. NYK says this will help the engines to consume less gas and cut methane emissions from the exhaust gas by about 50%, which can reduce the vessels’ overall greenhouse gas emissions.

From the mid-2030s, NYK plans to stop using LNG as a transition fuel and shift towards low-emission marine fuels such as hydrogen and ammonia.

By Debarati Bhattacharjee

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