Five bulk carriers for BHP: "LNG the only available commercial option"

BHP Billiton, the world's largest mining company, has chartered five bulk carriers that will be powered by LNG. The company's stated goal is to improve its environmental rating. With this choice, the company plans to reduce climate-altering emissions by 30 percent for each voyage.

The ships will be supplied by Eastern Pacific Shipping (EPS), of Israeli Idan Ofer, and will be used to ship iron ore, extracted in the Australian continent and needed by the Asian steel industry, from Australia to China.

The value of the agreement with EPS, which covers a period of five years from 2022, has not been disclosed, nor is it known the features and yard of the five ships that will be built. The Israeli company has invested about three billion dollars in LNG ships, including this order.

In response to comments from environmental experts, BHP reiterated its forecasts and stated that LNG "is currently the only option of fuel technology to reduce emissions that is commercially feasible and scalable for bulk carriers.

Chief Executive Officer Mike Henry also announced that the company will soon set a new target for overall emissions from the products it sells: oil, iron ore and coking coal, another ingredient needed to produce steel.

Recently, BHP announced actions to use more green energy in its coal mines in the Australian state of Queensland to reduce its indirect emissions in the country by 20 percent in five years.