Gastech 2023*, the world’s largest energy exhibition and conference, was held in Singapore from September 5 to 8. NYK participated in the sessions and panel discussions on next-generation energy on September 6 and 7, showing its commitment to taking the lead in decarbonizing marine transportation through zero-emission fuels, particularly ammonia fuel.

Tsutomu Yokoyama, an NYK executive officer, spoke on the theme of “NYK’s initiatives to realize the usage of ammonia as a marine fuel and to establish an ammonia supply chain” at the session on the 6th. Given the trend of decarbonization in the international shipping industry and NYK’s strategy for decarbonization of marine transportation in its medium-term management plan, he explained our attempts to use ammonia, which has a low environmental impact, as a marine fuel and our business participation in the ammonia supply chain from upstream to downstream in addition to marine transportation.

Hironobu Watanabe, chief executive of NYK’s Energy Division, participated in the panel discussion on “Decarbonizing shipping through natural gas, e-fuels, hydrogen, and ammonia” on the 7th. He cited LNG and methanol fuels as bridge solutions until zero-emission fuels are widely used. He also mentioned the possibility of ammonia becoming more popular as a marine fuel based on the overall issues, such as demand and supply.

The international shipping industry, which accounts for around 3% of global CO₂ equivalent emissions, is required to urgently address the rapid increase in CO₂ emissions due to the growth in demand for shipping worldwide.

Toward the decarbonization of marine transportation, NYK is developing the world’s first ammonia-fueled vessel with a domestic engine (i.e., ammonia-fueled tugboat and ammonia-fueled ammonia carrier)**. NYK will continue its efforts to achieve its long-term goal of reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to net zero by 2050.