Mitsui OSK Lines (MOL) plans to build Japan’s first LNG-fuelled tugboat.
MOL will own the tugboat which it plans to build at Kanagawa Dockyard, with Yanmar supplying the engines and Osaka Gas Co, the fuel.
The vessel will be operated by Nihon Tug-Boat Co from April 2019 in Osaka Bay.
“It will be equipped with high-performance dual fuel engines that allows high-speed operation and superior environmental performance, and will be the first LNG-fueled tugboat to escort large-scale freighters in Osaka Bay and the Seto Inland Sea,” MOL said.
The shipowner also sees the vessel as spurring development of an LNG fuel supply system in Osaka Bay.
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