Japanese shipping company Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha (NYK) has embarked on a new collaboration aimed at reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from existing ships by combining energy-saving devices.
On July 7, NYK signed a business alliance agreement with compatriot marine propeller manufacturer Nakashima Propeller and ship design services provider Fluid Techno.
As informed, the trio intends to verify the effects of energy-saving devices that enhance vessel fuel efficiency by improving water flow generated at the aft-end of ships, select optimal combinations of those energy-saving devices, and install them on existing ships.
In line with the business alliance agreement, NYK aims to reduce GHG emissions from existing vessels by installing energy-saving devices on about 50 dry bulk carriers over the next three years .
Ships can generally operate with less energy as wave resistance and water-flow turbulence decrease, so various energy-saving devices have been developed in marine and shipbuilding industries. Although the effects of individual energy-saving devices have been verified by the marine equipment manufacturer that developed each device, an optimal combination of multiple energy-saving devices and verification of their synergistic effects have not been thoroughly researched.
This business alliance is said to be a pioneering attempt in the maritime industry, in which the three companies will jointly work on the best mix of multiple energy-saving devices by utilizing the knowledge and strengths of each company.
Through this initiative, improvement of fuel efficiency by one to eight percent and reduction of vessel GHG emissions are expected.
The collaboration supports NYK’s long-term environmental strategy. In the process of achieving the long-term target of net-zero emissions of GHG by 2050 , not only R&D of zero-emission vessels but also improvement of fuel efficiency of vessels that use heavy oil as fuel is playing an important role.
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