Carrier expanding fleet
Mitsui O.S.K. Lines Ltd (MOL) is building an additional four 7,000-unit car carriers that will use liquefied natural gas (LNG) as their main fuel.
Takeshi Hashimoto, president and chief executive officer, says the company has reached an agreement with Nihon Shipyard Co Ltd and Shin Kurushima Dockyard Co Ltd to build the vessels.
The ships, due to be delivered in 2024 and 2025, are in addition to four LNG-fuelled car carriers it ordered in August 2021 and are also set to be completed in 2024.
The eight vessels form part of a fleet expansion program by the Japanese carrier that is expected to cost NZ$8.3 billion. MOL ultimately plans to increase the size of its car carrier fleet operating on LNG to 90 vessels by 2030.
It says compared to conventional marine fuel oil, LNG is expected to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) by up to 30 per cent and sulphur dioxide by 100 per cent.
MOL, which operates about 100 car carriers, has set a goal of cutting its emissions intensity by about 45 per cent by 2035 and to achieve net zero emissions by 2050.
