Japan’s first biofuel-hydrogen tourist ship to set sail in 2024

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TOKYO — Japanese marine shipping company Mitsui O.S.K. Lines plans to put the country’s first biofuel-hydrogen tourist vessel into service next year as part of an industrywide push to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

The roundish, 33-meter-long vessel holds 100 people. It will go into commercial service in April 2024 in Fukuoka prefecture.

The ship will be powered by a combination of biofuel and hydrogen cells, cutting carbon dioxide emissions by 53% to 100% compared with vessels running on conventional fossil fuels.

Only a handful of such hybrid ships exist worldwide. Electric propulsion will make the interior quiet enough for corporate training events, seminars and wedding receptions.

Mitsui O.S.K. group member MOL Techno-Trade held a launch ceremony Wednesday for the new hybrid vessel at Hongawara Ship Yard, close to the Hiroshima prefecture cove believed to have served as a model for the Studio Ghibli animated film “Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea.”

Motena-Sea, a joint venture set up in March 2022, will operate the hybrid vessel. Investors in Motena-Sea include MOL Techno-Trade, Hongawara Ship Yard, and ship management companies Ikous and Kanmon-Kisen. Biofuel will be locally sourced.

This follows a trend of hydrogen-powered ships being developed in Japan. Industrial gas provider Iwatani will operate a hydrogen fuel cell ferry at the 2025 World Expo in Osaka.

Heavy equipment maker Yanmar Holdings is developing a ship equipped with a hydrogen engine. A prototype more than 100 meters long is slated for completion in 2025.

International marine shipping accounts for about 2% of global energy-related CO2 emissions, International Energy Agency figures show. While less than the 16% share for autos, shipping emissions are about as large as Germany’s.

Marine shipping ran almost entirely on petroleum in 2020. Liquefied natural gas, which can cut CO2 emissions by around 20% to 30% compared with fuel oil, is expected to grow in use as a marine fuel in the near term.

LNG alone will not be enough to significantly shrink the carbon footprint, so companies are investing in hydrogen as a next-generation fuel. Such ships will be better suited to domestic routes, since hydrogen tanks would have to take up much more space for longer trips.

Ammonia and methanol are seen as next-generation fuels for long-haul routes. Japanese shipping company Nippon Yusen, together with IHI Power Systems and other partners, announced in May that they had successfully tested an ammonia-fueled ship engine. Nippon Yusen plans to put the first-ever ammonia-fuel tugboat into operation in June 2024.

Ammonia has its own problems as a fuel. It is toxic, and burning it in an inefficient manner emits such greenhouse gases as nitrogen oxides, which can have a greater warming effect than CO2.

“Green” methanol, which includes biomethanol from animal waste, will be the fuel for a new effort by container shipping giant A.P. Moller-Maersk to decarbonize its fleet.

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