• 29 Jan 2018

Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd. has signed a deal for the construction of an LNG-fueled tugboat with Kanagawa Dockyard Co. Ltd. The construction will start in February 2018 and complete in February 2019, while the launching is scheduled for April of the same year.

This marks MOL's first ownership of a tugboat powered by LNG-fueled engines - produced by Yanmar Co. Ltd., headquartered at Kita-ku, Osaka -and it will be the first LNG-fueled tugboat in Japan conforming to the International Code of Safety for Ships using Gases or other Low-flashpoint Fuels (IGF Code). The code regulates safety requirements for vessels that run on gas and low-flashpoint fuels, and was issued effective January 1, 2017.

It is also Japan's first LNG-fueled tugboat with the LNG fuel tank mounted on the exposed deck at the stern of the ship. This enhances convenience in bunkering, maintenance, and inspection.

The ship will be operated by Nihon Tug-Boat Co., Ltd. And  it will be deployed in Osaka Bay in April 2019.

LNG fuel will be supplied by Osaka Gas Co. Ltd. using a truck-to-ship system. MOL and Osaka Gas will establish an LNG fuel supply system for vessels, which will be the first in Osaka Bay and cooperate in the measures of LNG fuel supply development project conducted by Port and Harbor Bureau of Osaka Prefectural Government at the Sakai-Senboku Port.