“K” LINE signs shipbuilding contracts for four LNG-fueled car carriers

Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Ltd. (“K” LINE) is pleased to announce that it has signed shipbuilding contracts with China Merchants Jinling Shipyard (Nanjing) Co., Ltd. for four 1,380-vehicle capacity LNG dual-fuel car carriers. The vessels were ordered for “K” Line European Sea Highway Services GmbH (KESS), the “K” LINE’s European subsidiary.

The vessels are designed for the frequent transport of small lots in European short sea shipping. They are also designed to comply with size restrictions, which some European ports for imported cars have. “K” LINE is confident that these vessel specifications will give KESS a competitive advantage in its European short sea shipping operations.

The vessels are equipped with straight stern ramps with a load capacity of 60 tons. This enhances KESS’s capacity to handle heavy and oversized cargo and increases its flexibility to carry a wide variety of cargo types in addition to passenger cars.

The use of LNG fuel is expected to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2), a greenhouse gas (GHG), by 25% to 30% and emissions of sulfur oxides (SOx), which cause air pollution, by almost 100% compared to conventional vessels using heavy fuel oil. Additionally, to further reduce GHG emissions throughout the “K” LINE Group, we will consider using bio-diesel and bio-LNG fuel, or liquefied bio methane, in addition to LNG fuel.

The vessels each use a high-pressure type ME-GI engine with a shaft generator, reducing emissions of methane slip (unburst gas), which is a greenhouse gas(GHG). While boil-off gas (BOG) generated from LNG tanks is generally used as fuel for generator engines on a vessel with a high-pressure main engine, these vessels are equipped with vacuum-insulated LNG tanks to reduce the generation of BOG. This enables a machinery configuration with lower methane slip emissions.

Under the Group’s long-term environmental policy, “K” LINE Environmental Vision 2050: Blue Seas for the Future, the “K” LINE Group set the target of achieving net-zero GHG emissions in 2050. In line with this, “K” LINE has been working to introduce and operate LNG-fueled ships. The continuous use of bio-LNG is one of its key initiatives for achieving this target. “K” LINE will continue to work hard on the decarbonization of the marine transport industry, including through the use of carbon-neutral and zero-emissions fuels.