India's Tata Steel uses LNG-powered vessel to import coal

Steel producer Tata Steel on July 28 said it has become the first Indian company to import cargo using an LNG-powered bulk carrier, instead of traditional VLSFO (very low sulphur fuel oil). The vessel, MV Ubuntu Unity, berthed at Dhamra port on July 24, successfully discharging 1,65,700 tonnes of coal from Gladstone, Australia.

The vessel loaded coal from Gladstone port and sailed off on July 1 and used LNG during its ballast leg (Tianjin to Gladstone) and a mix of LNG and traditional fuel during its laden leg (Gladstone to Dhamra).

The LNG-powered vessel significantly reduces carbon emissions, with this voyage emitting approximately 35% less carbon, about 1800 tonnes lesser, compared to traditional Baltic specification cape vessels. Tata Steel plans to import around 1mn tonnes of coking coal from Australia in FY24 using such LNG-powered vessels.

“In 2021, Tata Steel became the first in the Indian Steel Industry to deploy a ship powered by biofuel. We continued the decarbonation drive with seven biofuel shipments in FY23. In continuation to our sustainability drive, in FY24, we are the first to deploy an LNG powered vessel for transportation of raw materials to India,” Peeyush Gupta, vice president of group strategic procurement and supply chain at Tata Steel, said.

In FY24, the company plans to perform 10% of its total number of shipments for imports through alternate fuel powered vessels.