MOL announced the signing of a long-term contract with JFE Steel Corporation (JFE Steel; President & CEO: Yoshihisa Kitano; Headquarters: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo) for long-term transport using an LNG-fueled bulk carrier.

Also, MOL and Nihon Shipyard Co., Ltd. (President: Yoshinori Maeta; Headquarters: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo) have reached a basic agreement on construction of the vessel, which is slated for delivery at the beginning of 2025.

Under MOL’s operation, the vessel will provide reliable, long-term transport of imported iron ore and coal to supply JEF Steel mills in Japan.

Compared to conventional marine fuel oil, LNG is expected to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide (CO₂) which is greenhouse gas (GHG) by about 25~30%, sulfur oxide (SOx) by about 100%, and nitrogen oxide (NOx) by about 85%.

MOL positions its environmental strategy as a top priority in the management plan, and on June 18, 2021, it announced the ‘MOL Group Environmental Vision 2.1’, which provides a more detailed roadmap for long-term emission reductions and sets even higher quantitative targets.

MOL set “Adoption of Clean Alternative Fuels” as one of five initiatives to realize its vision (see Fig. 1 below), and plans to increase the number of LNG-fueled vessels in its fleet to about 90 by 2030. It aims to further reduce GHG emissions by adopting more clean fuels, building upon LNG-fueled vessel projects already underway (Note 1) with this new vessel.

MOL takes a proactive approach in its ongoing efforts to offer safe, reliable ocean transport services while working steadily to reduce the environmental impact of its business activities

[Outline of the vessel]

(Note 1) Please refer to the following press releases related to MOL group’s LNG-fueled vessels.

・LNG-fueled tugboat

September 28, 2020: MOL’s LNG-fueled Tugboat Ishin Earns ‘Ship of the Year 2019’ Award as Innovative Work Ship/Special Purpose Ship

・LNG-fueled ferries

March 29, 2021: MOL, Kyushu Electric Power Sign Basic Agreement for LNG Fuel Supply for Japan’s First LNG-Fueled Ferries: Sunflower Kurenai and Sunflower Murasaki

・LNG-fueled coal carrier

December 25, 2019: Kyuden signs Agreement with NYK and MOL for the World’s First LNG-fueled Large Coal Carrier – Reduction of GHG Emission by implementing LNG Fuel –