NYK held a ceremony on January 29 to break ground at a site in Chiba Prefecture where the company will install a test engine facility* to evaluate the safety of biofuels and accelerate their practical application. The NYK Group will complete the installation of the test engine in June and analyze the biofuel in combustion tests over the next three years. NYK Group companies Boltech Co., Ltd. and Nippon Yuka Kogyo Co., Ltd. will also participate in this project by utilizing their engine-operation and fuel-oil-analysis technologies to verify the potential of various biofuels.

Biofuels are produced from various raw materials, including grains and waste cooking oil, but only a few are currently being commercialized. More types of biofuels are expected to be commercialized in the future as demand for biofuels increases. However, about a year of testing and analysis at an external engine facility, followed by 12–18 months of onboard trials, is needed before continuous shipboard use of new fuels. NYK expects to shorten the test period and the time until the new fuel can be used on board by owning and operating the test engine

*The test engine will be a reused generator from the tugboat Sakigake, which is currently being converted to an ammonia-fueled tug.