The world’s first LNG-fuelled Panamax-class coal carrier, which was being built by Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha (NYK) and Kyushu Electric Power (Kyuden), was successfully delivered and bunkered.
According to NYK, the vessel was named Shoyo in a naming ceremony held at the Koyagi Shipyard of Oshima Shipyard Co., Ltd., and began operations after completing the first bunkering. Shoyo received its LNG-fuel supply at the port of Tobata (Fukuoka Prefecture) on October 12.
Bunkering was carried out via shore-to-ship, which supplies fuel directly from the handling facility on shore to the vessel. This was the first shore-to-ship bunkering for an oceangoing LNG-fueled vessel in Japan.
The ship is designed to be compatible with both shore-to-ship and ship-to-ship bunkering, the latter of which is the supply of LNG fuel from an LNG bunkering vessel to a ship.
From March 2024, a newly built LNG-fueled bunkering vessel based in the Setouchi and Kyushu area could deliver LNG fuel through ship-to-ship bunkering.
