Japan-headed shipping major Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha (NYK Line) has announced that starting in fiscal 2024, it will conduct full-scale trials of long-term use of biofuels, which are considered to have net-zero carbon dioxide emissions, in navigating its existing heavy oil-fired vessels.
Since fiscal 2019, the NYK Group has conducted short-term biofuel trials on about 10 vessels.
While NYK says that it has confirmed the safety of short-term biofuel use, NYK has not verified the impact of biofuels on the ship’s main engine, generator, motor, fuel supply system, etc., and the quality of biofuels after a certain storage period.
NYK also needs to ensure the stability of biofuel procurement when used in more vessels.
Moving forward from the previous short-term trials, NYK Line will “comprehensively verify the safety and stable procurement of biofuels when used over a long period.”
In this trial, NYK Line will use biofuel continuously for three months on multiple vessel types. After that, it will gradually extend biofuel use for a longer period for further validation.
Through this trial, NYK will establish a safe navigation system using biofuels and promote biofuel development to achieve the Group’s goal of a 45 percent reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by fiscal 2030 compared to fiscal 2021.
