NYK Receives Japan's 1st LNG-Fuelled PCTC

Japanese shipping firm NYK on October 28 took delivery of Sakura Leader, a pure car and truck carrier (PCTC), which uses LNG as its main fuel, it said on the same day. The vessel was built at the Shin Kurushima Dockyard in Japan.

The ship is the first large LNG-fuelled PCTC to be constructed in Japan, NYK said. “Vessel modification and the switch to LNG will make the ship up to approximately 40% more energy-efficient (by reducing CO₂ emissions per unit of transport) compared to ships using conventional heavy oil-fired engines,” it added.

The vessel is also expected to reduce sulphur oxide emissions by approximately 99% and nitrogen oxides by approximately 86% compared to ships using conventional heavy oil-fired engines. “The vessel will be contributing to clean marine transport by carrying vehicles produced by the Toyota Motor Corporation and other car manufacturers,” NYK said.

NYK is positioning LNG as one of the bridge-solutions until future zero-emission ships are realised, it said. The company plans to switch all its newly built PCTCs to LNG-fuelled vessels in the next ten years and is aiming to further advance to zero-emission vessels utilising low-emission marine fuels such as hydrogen and ammonia from around the mid-2030s.